Jitendra a farmer now!

Thursday, July 05, 2007
After megastar Amitabh Bachchan and versatile actor Aamir Khan, Jumping Jack of Bollywood Jitendra too has jumped on to the band-wagon of 'celebrity-farmer'.

The star of yesteryears and his family has purchased around 3.3 bighas of agricultural land in Bundi district of Rajasthan. According to the farmer Chhotu Lal, who sold the land to the family, Jitendra had purchased this land in Ranipura village of Hindoli tehsil last year. "This land has been registered under the joint names of Jitendra alias Ravi Kapoor, wife Shobha Ravi Kapoor, son Tusshar Ravi kkapoor and Ekta Kapoor.

The deal was worth Rs 1.43 lakh at 43,000 per bigha," he said. According to official sources in land revenue department, the address of the purchaser mentioned in the registry is: Krishna Bunglaw, House No 26, Gulmohar Cross Road No 5, JVPD Scheme, Mumbai. "Shobha Kapoor had come to Bundi for the final documentation after completing the formal paperwork in Mumbai itself," the official said.

The first-owner of the land Chhotu Lal himself is the caretaker of the land. "After the purchase of land, the Kapoor family has given charge of the land to Chhotu Lal at an annual remuneration of Rs 10,000," the official said. According to the land rules in Maharashtra, agricultural land in the state is only allowed to be owned by legitimate farmers and that is the reason why filmstars purchase farm land in other states to get an authentication of being farmers.

They then purchase agricultural land of their choice to build farm houses and plush out-houses. Superstar Amitabh Bachchan is facing a trial for buying 24 acres of farm land near Lonavala in Pune through a forged document saying that he is a farmer in Barabanki district of Uttara Pradesh. A court in Uttar Pradesh recently ruled out that Bachchan is not a farmer and struck down allotment of farmland to him in Barabanki.