Opposition lawmakers in Jammu and Kashmir have raised concerns after reports emerged that former Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan was allotted land in Kathua district “free of cost” to set up a bottling plant for his beverage company. The Omar Abdullah-led government, however, said it had no information on the matter.
As per reports, Muralitharan’s company, Ceylon Beverages, has been allotted 25.75 acres for a Rs 1,600 crore bottle-filling and aluminium can-manufacturing unit in Kathua.
On Saturday, several lawmakers from the opposition Congress and CPI(M) raised their concerns during the Question Hour in the ongoing Budget session.
While CPI (M) MLA MY Tarigami questioned the allotment of land “free of cost” and sought a reply from the government, Congress legislator GA Mir described the matter as “serious”.
Mir emphasised that an investigation must look into how a non-Indian was “provided land without having to spend a penny”.
In his reply to the opposition legislators’ concerns, Javed Ahmad Dar, the Minister for Agriculture Production, said, “This is a matter related to the revenue department. We do not have any information, and we will look into it to know the facts.”
(With PTI inputs)
