PRAYAGRAJ, April 11 -- More than 1,000 plots have been freed from the illegal possession of land sharks over the past one year, as the Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) intensified its crackdown on land grabbing in the city's outskirts. During the same period, nearly 40 FIRs were registered against alleged members of the land mafia by the PDA and the district administration.

The action gained momentum earlier this year after district authorities stumbled upon a startling case in which land earmarked for the construction of an Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) police station and an Election Commission office had also been illegally encroached upon, divided into plots and attempts made to sell it off by land sharks, under the Air Force police...