VIJAYAWADA: In a situation akin to Pankaj Tripathi’s recent flick ‘Kaagaz’, an elderly farmer was forced to run from pillar to post for the past one year to prove everyone that he was alive. The incident was reported from Pegallapadu village in Nellore district.
Kamal Saheb, the 55-year-old farmer, told reporters on Wednesday that revenue officials were not accepting his claim that he was alive. Kamal produced a copy of his voter ID card to prove his identity in front of the village revenue office and mandal revenue office.
Kamal says his younger brother, Hussein Saheb, forged records to show that he was dead to ‘illegally’ snatch one acre land that was supposed to be split 50-50 as inheritance after his father, Dastagiri, passed away last year.
Kamal also claims that local revenue officials had aided his brother in registration of the land without verifying whether he is alive. “I am alive. My brother is going around falsifying records. He can have half an acre of land but I am entitled to the other half. I have been roaming around revenue offices but they are saying that they can’t do anything,” Kamal told TOI.
He further added that he would prefer to resolve the matter with the help of officials rather than going to court which might take decades. In a similar incident in Uttar Pradesh, a farmer, Lal Bihari, fought a legal battle for 19 years to prove that he is alive. Based on his story, Bollywood actor Pankaj Tripathi aced the role of Lal Bihari in ‘Kaagaz’.
