BURHANPUR (MADHYA PRADESH): Late on Wednesday, the Nepanagar police registered an FIR against nine including the then sub-divisional magistrate Visha Madhvani in connection with Rs 42 lakh scam in land acquisition for Pipri Borbon pond.
Pond falls under Khaknar tehsil in Nepanagar Assembly constituency, in Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh.
Accused Madhvani is currently posted as deputy collector in Jhabua. Others accused are Home Guard Sachin Verma, a resident of Nepanagar, assistant grade-III clerk Ankit Kate posted at sub-divisional officer, Anil Patidar, cashier at district cooperative central bank in Tukaithad, Khandwa district, Ashok Lagan, assistant account at district cooperative central bank in Tukaithad, Sachin Maiskar, a local resident from Pipri Borban village, Burhanpur district, Imtiyaz Ali Akhtar, Javed Akhtar Kamruddin, both residents of Dehtalai, Nepanagar, Burhanpur district, and Firoz Khan, proprietors Raj Traders and a resident of Dharni Village.
The accused have been booked under sections 420 (cheating) 406 & 409 (criminal breach of trust), 467 (forgery of a valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (dishonestly) and 120(b) (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code.
Meanwhile, police arrested five out of nine accused in the matter. Local sources also claimed that police picked Madhvani from Jhabua. Police department team has gone to Khandwa and Bhopal to nab the two accused. One accused is still on the run.
Earlier, the main conspirator Imtiyaz Ali Akhtar in his statement to police blamed ex-land acquisition officer Madhvani as the mastermind of the case. He alleged that all the deals were sealed at her bungalow as she handled the whole matter.
He said Madhvani and the bank officials managed the 90 per cent of the scam while the rest 10 per cent of the scam was managed by other accused.
“Visha Madhvani misused my Aadhaar card and bought stamps on my behalf. I have not signed on stamp vendor's register. I will soon place evidence before media and will reveal everything,” Imtiaz told police.
An RTI activist Dr Anand Dixit lodged a complaint after many eligible landowners failed to get compensation for land falling under the submergence area of the pond.
After the complaint, the role of then SDM Visha Madhwani of Nepanagar and others came under the scanner. A probe revealed that fake documents signed in Hindi and affidavit filed in English were used to carry out the scam.
Bank staff, politicians, kiosk operators, notaries, operator of a cooperative society and a jeweller from Maharashtra have come to the fore in the fraud. These accused are seasoned scamsters, alleged an activist.
