A real estate agent along with his accomplice has been arrested for forging documents claiming a government reward of Rs 86.12 lakh for land acquired for the Vadodara-Mumbai Express Highway project in Navsari, police said.
Three others involved in the alleged fraud are still absconding, officials added.
Landlord is in Canada. According to the details disclosed by the authorities, Bharat Patel of Sarpore village of Navsari lodged a complaint against Shirish Ahir (35) and Deepak Patel (40), who had rented land for farming on Thursday. Navsari); Sandeep Patel (35) (Resident of Kaprada Taluk of Valsad); and two others who are both residents of Navsari) at Navsari Rural Police Station.
In his complaint, Bharat Patel has accused real estate agent Deepak Patel of knowing about 2,265 square meters of agricultural land in Sarpore village, which Ishwar Patel currently owns with his family members and his brother late Gopal Patel in Canada. It was acquired by the government authorities for the highway project.
According to the Supreme Court’s directives, the government reward given for getting more than the value of the agricultural land was not claimed in this case till now and Deepak Patel came to know about it.
Deepak Patel allegedly planned to claim the bounty, involving his friends Shirish Ahir and Sandeep Patel. and took details of Ishwar Patel and Gopal Patel, officials said.
The accused bought documents like Aadhaar card, bank account details, driving license, PAN card, election card of both these people. They then arranged two persons to impersonate Ishwar Patel and Gopal Patel and produced them before the Land Acquisition Officer and claimed on September 30, 2023.
Officials paid Rs. 86.12 lakhs and deposited in both fake bank accounts.
After that, Deepak Patel and other accused took back the money according to Navsari Rural Municipality.
The incident came to light after Bharat Patel, the custodian of the land, found out that someone had taken the claim amount. He filed an RTI application at the land acquisition department office in Navsari and found that the reward money for the land had already been withdrawn from the bank account holders.
Bharat Patel contacted Ishwar Patel and talked to the land acquisition officer of Navsari. Bharat Patel also told government officials that Gopal Patel had died on March 13, 1984.
Based on the complaint, the police arrested Deepak Patel and Shishir Ahir on Friday, while others went underground.
Navsari police inspector PB Patelia said, “The complainant had taken the land of Ishwar Patel and his brother Gopal Patel on lease and had taken power of attorney. Deepak Patel and others made fake documents and presented two persons known to them, Ishwar Patel and Gopal Patel, before the Land Acquisition Officer and collected the reward money for the land. We have arrested two accused while three are absconding and we will arrest them soon. We will also identify and grill other people involved in this racket. The accused had defrauded the government of Rs 50 crore. 86.12 lakhs and shared among themselves.”
The police have registered a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 465 (forgery), 467 (forgery of valuable securities, wills, etc.), 468 (forgery with intent to defraud), 471 (using forged document as genuine or). electronic record), 34 (acts by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 114 (presence of oppressor during commission of offence).
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