Land allotted to INA soldier’s mother sold ‘fraudulently’

Deepender Deswal
Tribune News Service
Hisar, January 10

A nephew of a freedom fighter, Ramdhan, who was associated with the Indian National Army (INA), was among six persons arrested on the charge of fraudulently selling about 12.5 acres allotted to the freedom fighter’s mother in Hisar’s Beed village, the Bhiwani police have said.

Ramdhan was a native of Chang village in Bhiwani district.

The arrested accused are freedom fighter’s nephew Rambabu; property dealers Rajkumar, Manbir and Mukesh; Ramrati; and nambardar Bhanwar Singh. They have been booked under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC. Rambabu is the son of Ramdhan’s brother Shivdhan.

The interesting thing is the case has been registered on Rambabu’s complaint, accusing others of fraudulently selling off the land. But the investigation brought out that he was the mastermind of the fraud, the police said.

The land, located in the vicinity of the airport in Hisar, is worth about Rs30 crore. But the accused had sold the land at throwaway prices – for about Rs90 lakh to two Hisar residents in 2014.

Investigating officer (IO) Rajbir Siwach, a Sub-Inspector in the economic cell of the police, said: “Ramdhan was unmarried and he had died in action before Independence. The government had allotted the land to his mother Harbai in the 1960s. After her demise about four decades ago, her four sons Shivdhan, Banarasi, Pyare Lal and Maujiram and two daughters Daya and Samundri became the legal heirs to the land. Of the six children, only the sisters are alive. Daya lives in Rewari, while Samundri resides in Odisha.”

There are about 30 legal heirs to the land, but it seemed that only Rambabu was aware of the land, the IO said. He, along with the property dealers, forged the ownership deeds of the land in the name of his aunts Daya and Samundri.

Then, the accused struck a deal with two women, who impersonated as Daya and Samundri in the Bhiwani tehsil office, and sold off the land to two Hisar residents for Rs90 lakh, Siwach said, adding more persons were likely to be arrested.

But Rambabu’s plans went awry as he did not get sufficient amount of money from the deal. So, he disclosed to his family about the fraudulent sale of the land. On September 21, 2018, he had lodged a police complaint against the property dealers and others.

The police said the forged ownership deeds stood cancelled.

Question of 12.5 acres

• The government allotted 12.5 acres to Harbai, the mother of INA martyr Ramdhan in the 1960s 
• After her death, her four sons and two daughters became heirs to the land. At present, the land has about 30 heirs. But only Rambahu knew about the land
• Two daughters Daya and Samundri are alive — one lives in Rewari and the other in Odisha 
• Rambabu, along with three property dealers, prepared ownership deeds of the land in the name of her aunts (Daya and Samundri) and sold the land to two women 
• A case was registered on the complaint of Rambabu and others in Bhiwani on September 21, 2018