Thiruvananthapuram: Businessman held for forging documents to inherit shopping complex

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Fort police have arrested a prominent businessman in the city on charges of committing fraud to snatch ancestral property from his siblings. The police identified the accused as Baiju Vasanth, a resident of Artech City Meenakshi apartment complex at Vazhuthacaud. He is the owner of Ponnambalam Steel, a leading steel distributing company. The police have also arrested two document writers (vendors) who aided him in the fraud. They are Chandrakumar of Padasseri near Attukal and Sreekumar of Anayara. Their arrests were recorded at Fort police station here on Saturday.
The police said Baiju and his accomplices were arrested after an investigation into a complaint filed by his own sister, Binu Vasanth. Her complaint was that Baiju allegedly transferred a piece of ancestral property to his daughter’s name through forgery. Baiju is the eldest of three siblings. He has two sisters Binu Vasanth and Bindu Vasanth.
The property in question is a three-storey building opposite to Pazhavangadi Ganapathy Temple at East Fort. The building belonged to their grandmother and she had bequeathed the building to the three grandchildren. The building, which has been rented out to multiple business establishments, is worth at least Rs 5 crore.
Binu, in her complaint, alleged that the documents of the property were under the custody of her father until his death in 2014. Following his death, Baiju secured the custody of the documents, being the elder son. Since Bindu was settled abroad for years, she never cared to enquire about the status of the properties here. Recently, Binu learned that the ownership of the building has been transferred to the name of Baiju daughter following which she filed a complaint before the police.
The police found out in the investigation that Baiju snatched the property by executing an elaborate plan. He first hid the original deed of the property and placed an advertisement on newspapers that it has been lost. Then, he converted all ownership documents at village office and city corporation to his name by providing forged will, showing that he was the original heir of the property. The registration of the property to his daughter was done at Chala sub-registrar office on August 10, 2018.
According to a police officer who was part of the probe, Baiju had employed a meticulous design with the help of two document writers. The property was purchased by Baiju’s grandmother in 1982 from one Velayudhan Nair. When he forged the new document, he posed as the legal heir of Velayudhan Nair as the name of Nair’s son was also Baiju. The documents registered by Baiju’s grandmother in 1982 and later in 1984 to bequeath it to legal heirs were suppressed by Baiju to facilitate his plan. The posing as Nair’s son attracted impersonation charges apart from forgery, cheating and conspiracy against the three accused.
They were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.