The deputy commissioners of all the police divisions in Calcutta have been asked to draw up a list of alleged encroachments on government properties and submit a status report.

The report would include the size of the land, its location and the department that is the official custodian of the land, the police said.

“If a property that has been allegedly encroached upon is under litigation the report should mention the details, including the court where the case is pending and the last update,” a senior officer overseeing the reports said.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had on Monday said that a section of the police, politicians and government officials was letting encroachers settle on vacant government lands.

On Tuesday a police team reached a land parcel measuring 1.32 acres at the Bantala Leather Complex under Bhangar II block and removed encroachers from an under-construction government building.

The police said the building at Bantala was among several state-owned properties where encroachers had settled down.

Amid police action, the land and land reforms department issued a notice to the district magistrates and additional district magistrates to send teams to vacant
plots and plant placards saying they belonged to the state government.

The notice instructed officials to visit these vacant plots and state-owned water bodies periodically, take pictures and submit them with a status update.

The chief minister’s criticism of the role of the police and their nexus with a section of encroachers prompted officers in charge of several police stations across the city and its adjoining areas to do something they had not done for long. Try and make
way for pedestrians on footpaths and clear roads of encroachments.

“We have asked the hawkers to remove plastic sheets and remove their belongings occupying the entire width of the footpath,” said a senior officer of the Entally police station.