Walam said the trading community is not engaged in agriculture. “In fact, the land they had bought from the local people is barren and it is highly impossible that it will yield any produce. In such a situation, the sale of land seems suspicious and should be probed,” Walam demanded. MIDC is the nodal agency for land acquisition for refinery projects. Prashant Bhamare, senior official from the Industries department, said that there is a likelihood of ghost farmers – people who are not originally farmers and yet own agricultural land. “A ghost farmer is someone using another name for the purpose of sale. The original owner of land or investor is different,” said Bhamare. Walam has now threatened to write to the Income Tax department asking it to investigate the source of income of all the investors.