The chief minister has announced that the government will not allow change in the title ownership of plots owned by elderly couples who die an unnatural death, the step aimed at shielding such couples from vicious property-grabbers.

Mamata Banerjee hinted that the murder of two couples in Netaji Nagar and Narendrapur had prompted the government to take such a decision.

Police are questioning two promoters who have developed projects in the Netaji Nagar area in connection with the murder of the childless couple Dilip and Swapna Mukherjee.

“I have asked the police to inquire into the murders and take stringent action against those involved in them.... But we want to ensure that in case of unnatural deaths of lonely couples, their plots are not transferred to anybody else. A plaque will be put up in the name of the couples on their plots,” the chief minister said at Nabanna on Wednesday afternoon.

Explaining the rationale for such an action, she said: “This (installation of the plaques) will not allow anybody to capture plots of such couples and save their lives across the state.”

Government officials said the chief minister had perhaps kept in mind the possibility of heirs to such couples living in distant places. “Before they (the heirs) can establish their claim, the plot should not be transferred to anyone else,” an official said.

Officials do not foresee any problem in implementing what Mamata announced because all records in the state have been digitised.

The local land and land reforms office, which perform mutation (change in the title ownership), can prevent hand-over of a plot once it is locked in the system.

“Such a step can be initiated after police or the authorities mark a plot controversial…. Once the plot is locked, local land reforms department officials cannot change the title ownership. It can only be transferred with the consent of an official of the rank of additional district magistrate,” an official said.

“Once an elderly, childless couple die, the police will alert land department officials of the area and the plot will be locked immediately,” the official said.

Trinamul leaders termed the chief minister’s intervention on the issue “significant”.

“Such murders send a message that the government is doing nothing against the accused because promoters are involved in the matter…. The chief minister made it clear that she would not think twice before taking steps to save citizens,” a minister said.

A section of officials said the chief minister was eager to make it clear that her government was with the common people.

The BJP, which has made deep inroads in Bengal and won 18 seats in the last Lok Sabha elections, often accuses the Trinamul government of being hand in glove with syndicate operatives.

“The chief minister is eager to prove the allegations wrong and project a humanitarian face of her government. But it is easier said than done. The step she announced might invite legal challenge,” an official said.

Some officials said it would be difficult for the government to find out whether a deceased couple had left a will.

“Even if somebody produces a will, the government has to verify it. So, a blanket ban on change in title ownership of such plots will run into trouble,” an official said.