Ex-corporator among 11 booked for land fraud

Pune: The Talegaon Dabhade police booked 12 people, including a former Pimpri Chinchwad corporator, for selling the same parcels of land in Gahunje village to different people.
According to the police, the suspects took advantage of the time taken by the state revenue authorities in updating the land records to repeatedly sell each piece of land to multiple people.

A land developer, Atish Mohan Bhalsingh (30) of Gahunje, became aware of the fraud and moved court, which earlier this month directed police to register a case.

Following this, the police booked a former corporator of PCMC and 11 others, all residents of Vadgaon Maval and Pimpri Chinchwad, for cheating and forgery.

According to the FIR, the 13-acre plot in Gahunje village had clear documents till 1996. In December that year, a few persons got power of attorney (POA) and purchased the land. However, the POA was not registered and the local revenue officials were in the dark.

In the early 2000s, the same people used the POA to flat a bungalow scheme on the land. One of the plots was bought by the complainant, police said.

In 2003, the POA holder died and soon, the suspects came together and sold the same piece of land to many people using old land documents.