Advocates among 3 nabbed for selling land acquired by HSVP

Sanjay Yadav

Gurugram, January 21

State crime branch, Gurugram, has arrested three persons, including two advocates, who sold 2 acres of land ‘acquired’ by fraudulent means to a private company causing loss worth crores of rupees to state exchequer.

The said land of village Islampur which was acquired by the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) in 1993 was sold to a private company at Rs 2 crore on the basis of fake and forged documents and witnesses.

To make a quick buck, Rohit Thakran of Jharsa village and Ajay Choudhry, a resident of Islampur village, hatched a plan and got the land transferred in the name of the latter by showing fake witnesses and impersonating Murti Devi, Lakshmi Devi and Bala Devi, who were original owner of 2 acres of ancestral property.

The witnesses, Chaman Lal Arora and Subhash Chand Arora both advocates, who identified three original owners have also been arrested.

While the two advocates were sent into judicial custody, the main accused Rohit Thakran is in police remand. He will be produced in a city court by Saturday.

The fraud came to light when one of the victims, Murti Devi, a resident of Gupta Colony, Gurugram, filed a complaint in this regard. Following the complaint an FIR was registered at Sadar police station under Sections 419 (cheating by impersonation), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC at Sadar police station against Ajay Chaudhary and others on 17-09-2020. The case was transferred to state crime branch on November 11 last year.

State Crime Branch arrested three accused identified as Rohit Thakran on Tuesday, while advocates Chaman Lal Arora and Subhash Chand Arora, witnesses to the sale deed registration were nabbed today. Dharmbeer, DSP of state crime branch, Gurugram, said they are trying to nab Ajay Chaudhary who is still on run and are questioning the main accused.

The probe also reveals that mastermind Rohit Thakran had learnt privately the work of Patwari and was fully aware of the acquired land. Ajay Chaudhary has been found to have transferred Rs 29 lakh out of Rs 2 crore to the account of Rohit Thakran, the mastermind of the case. Among the accounts in which Ajay Chaudhary has received money, he has been found to use different PAN numbers while opening a bank account.

“Investigation also reveals Rohit Thakaran has been involved in other cases, including liquor smuggling. Ajay Chaudhary has been involved in shooting and killing a Rajasthan Police constable in the year 2006. Further probe into the case is underway. Others involved will be arrested soon,” said Mohammad Akil, DGP, Crime.