Doc builds resort by grabbing forest land near Gir forest

Rajkot: A lavish resort flourishing illegally at a kissing distance from the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary in Junagadh for the last three years has been discovered by the forest department.
Following the revelation and subsequent probe, Talala police arrested resort owner Dr Rasik Vaghasiya, a gynaecologist of Una town in Gir-Somnath district. Dr Vaghasiya was booked under the Gujarat Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act 2020.
According to police sources, Dr Vaghasiya had purchased seven bigha land adjacent to Gir sanctuary in Hadmatiya (Gir) village a few years ago.
Later, he illegally encroached additional five bighas of forest land. He then built a resort with 24 rooms, a conference hall and a restaurant in 2018. The property was built under the name ‘Medicure’ and the doctor was doing a good business.
He had had not taken permission from the concerned department to run the resort.
Forest department officials learnt that he had grabbed the forest land and filed an application before the collectorate. Preliminary investigation found this to be true and a complaint was lodged against him under the newly enacted land grabbing law.
Police have also seized the register of his resort for investigation.
Sources say that more such cases of people grabbing forest land may surface in the next few weeks.