Mumbai: Navi Mumbai Police arrested three men, including two real estate agents, for forging documents of plots belonging to the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) in Belapur, forging documents and selling the plot to other builders. In one such case, the accused sold the plot for Rs 1.86 crore.
The accused trio are suspected of cheating scores of people using the same modus operandi and misusing the name of CIDCO authority.
According to police, four plots of a total 694 square meters near Belapur Village in Navi Mumbai were sold to a Nerul-based builder Dinesh Patel. The plots were sold to Dinesh by two real estate agents- Lavesh Jadhav and Prabhakar Mhatre, and their accomplice Narendra Patel, a builder. Police said, the accused had shown forged documents to Dinesh, which stated the plots belonged to the deceased Joma Koli, which was granted to him by CIDCO under the 12.5 per cent scheme. Meanwhile, the fact was that the plots belonged to CIDCO.
With the help of forged documents like allotment letter, memorandum of understanding (MoU), lease agreement, supplementary deed, the accused trio signed a tripartite agreement with Dinesh and sold him the plots. Police said, the plots were sold for Rs 1.86 crore, which was paid by Dinesh in the form of a demand draft, last year.
A few months later, in December 2018, Dinesh received a letter that he cannot construct any structure on the plots, as they belonged to CIDCO. Dinesh immediately approached CIDCO and was shocked to learn that he had been duped. After consulting various authorities, Dinesh registered a case against Prabhakar, Lavesh and Narendra at NRI Sagari police station.
Recently, Navi Mumbai Police had been getting similar complaints of forgery and cheating of builders under the pretext of buying CIDCO resale plots. Taking cognisance of the matter, police formed a team with Crime Branch and Economic Offences Wing. After months of investigation, police received a tip-off about the accused trio and a trap was laid to arrest them. On Wednesday, the trio were arrested from Belapur and booked under relevant sections of IPC for cheating, forgery and common intention. Police are investigating the matter further and suspect they may have duped others using the same modus operandi.
