IAS officer suspended in `2,000cr land scam case

The Gujarat Government suspended the controversial former district collector of Surat Ayush Oak for unlawfully registering tenant names on valuable government land in Dumas worth Rs 2,000 crore, causing significant financial losses to the state of Gujarat.

Congress MLA from Khedbrahma, DrTushar Chaudhary, exposed the involvement of Ayush Oak in the land scam during his stint as the district collector of Surat. Chaudhary wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to scrutinize the alleged fraudulent activities that caused significant financial losses to the state.

In the letter addressed to PM Modi, Chaudhary levied heavy accusations against Ayush Oak, accusing him of unlawfully registering tenant names on valuable government land in Dumas, Surat.

According to Chaudhary, Ayush Oak, who served as the Surat District Collector till February 2024, defrauded the government by arbitrarily entering the names of 'tenants' into the official records of government land measuring about 2.17 lakh square meters at survey number 311/3 in Dumas.

Chaudhary detailed that in 2015, an investigation by the then-district collector concluded that the land belonged to the state government.

Despite this, Oak allegedly ignored the report and issued an order to register the names of the tenants into the land records just two days before his transfer.

The timing of Ayush Oak's order raised suspicions, with Chaudhary questioning the IAS officer’s motives and the abruptness of the decision. Oak signed the controversial order on the last day of his transfer from Surat to Valsad.

“This clear act of corruption and abuse of power cannot go unpunished,” said Chaudhary.

“Ayush Oak has been suspended, but we still demand that a thorough inquiry should be ordered against Oak and he should face criminal proceedings.”

Sources said that Oak was sent to Patan and will stay in the Patan headquarters.

“Despite being in a constitutional post with the duty to preserve government property, Ayush Oak damaged the property of the government through his arbitrary and illegal actions,” Chaudhary said. “This case needs to be investigated thoroughly to ensure justice and to prevent such incidents in the future.”

Congress MLA Tushar Chaudhary exposed Oak’s role in the scam during his stint as district collector