50-year-old ghost returns to sell his plot of land

Vadodara: The rural police on Monday booked four persons who had clandestinely sold off a plot of land at Chikhodara village in 2017 in the name of a man who had been dead for fifty long years by then! The four prepared forged identity proofs of the person who died in 1967, said cops.
Deceased Daru Patel’s granddaughter Pushpa approached the police after she learnt about the land being registered in the name of one Alpesh Patel, who lives on Waghodiya Road, around eight months back. When Pushpa initiated process to get copies of the land documents, Alpesh threatened her and told her to stay away from the issue as he had legally purchased the land.
Pushpa, however, managed to get a copy of the land’s sale deed which was done in August 2017. The sale deed showed Pushpa’s grandfather Daru as the seller and Alpesh as the purchaser.
Two more accused Ketan Patel and Pritesh Soni had signed on the sale deed as witnesses. Pushpa told the police that her grandfather would have to return as a ghost 50 years later to sell off the in 2017 as he had passed away way in 1967.
The accused had forged her grandfather’s identity proofs and made some person sign on the sale deed as her grandfather.
Police said that Daru had willed the land to Pushpa’s father, but the ownership was never transferred.
Based on Pushpa’s complaint, an offence of forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy was registered at Varnama police station against Alpesh, Ketan, Pritesh and an unidentified person who signed as Daru on sale deed.