Assam: Govt. officials, advocate among four arrested for selling land with counterfeit documents

Guwahati: A shocking story has surfaced of how a racket involving government officials, advocates and land mafias has been active in Guwahati city to grab land from genuine landowners by using counterfeit land documents.

This has come to light after the arrest of four persons in connection with a case registered by the cyber police station.

“This racket has been active in the city for a long time. But we have recently taken up two cases and arrested four persons for attempting to grab seven kathas of land using counterfeit land documents manipulated by advocates and officials of the revenue department,” Guwahati commissioner of police, Diganta Barah said while addressing a joint press conference with Kamrup Metro district commissioner Pallav Gopal Jha here on Friday.

Those who have been arrested are: Tapash Choudhury, son of Late Jyotish Kr Choudhury, Bhetapara, Vidya Mandir Path, Guwahati; advocate Mainul Hoque (40), son of Hazrat Ali, Bitopan Path, Notboma Panchali, Hatigaon; Nitul Das (40), son of Late Phatik Das of Kharghuli, Guwahati and Dhrub Jyoti Barman (34), son of Uday Barman of Fatasil Ambari, Ganesh Para, Namghar Path, Guwahati.

“Tapash Choudhury is an infamous land mafia who has been involved in a series of land grabbing cases. Advocate Mainul Hoque prepares fake sale deed with the connivance of land mafias and officials of sub-registrar office, Guwahati,” Barah said.

“Nitul Das is a junior assistant in the office of the sub-registrar and has been working in Guwahati since 2013. He has been involved in the preparation of fake sale deeds of land and making entries in the volume registrar. During the investigation, documents have been seized which revealed that Nitul has invested so far more than Rs. 6 crore in different landed properties,” Barah also said.

“Dhrub Jyoti Barman is the data entry operator of the revenue circle office, Dispur who does data entry on behalf of lot mandal,” Barah further said.

Based on a complaint lodged by the circle officer of Dispur Revenue Circle, Papu Gogoi, the cyber crime police station registered case No 12/2023 under section 120(B)/419/420 of IPC added with section 409/468/471 of IPC read with section 66-C/66-D of Information Technology Act, 2000.

The circle officer alleged that a mutation order was passed online in the Dharitree web portal on October 5, 2023, in mutation case No MET/DIS/2022-23/96042/OMUT in respect of a sale deed bearing Serial No 6268 on December 31, 1995, where no offline case record of any notice issued, field verification report by revenue officials, order of lot mandal and Kunungoo, etc. were found in the office of the revenue circle.

Lot mandal reported that neither field verification nor any report was submitted regarding the mutation case.

In the complaint, the circle officer suspected that some unscrupulous elements hatched a conspiracy to get the mutation done by resorting to forgery of documents and unethical means.

Similarly, Basistha police station registered a case vide case No 645/2023 on October 25, 2023, under section 120(B)/ 420/468/471/323/506 of IPC, based on a complaint lodged by one Someswar Tumung (60) alleging that a plot measuring seven kathas and 10 lecha legally owned by him and his family is registered in the name of one Rajesh Roy and it was shown to be sold by his the complainant’s father and uncle in 1992 vide sale deed No 804/1992 on February 7, 1992.

“During the investigation, a huge racket of preparation of counterfeit land documents has been unearthed by the city police. Land mafias resort to preparing counterfeit land documents during the registration of the sell deed through the process of commissioning. While getting Registration done through the process of commissioning, genuine landowners are in the dark and someone else claiming as land owner appears and signs as landowners,” the police commissioner said.

“The process of registration through commissioning is not secured as unauthorised persons are deputed for getting registration done through commission. This process is also a source of illegal gratification for unscrupulous government officials and land brokers,” he said.

“Land brokers, government officials of sub-registrar office, mohoris working with sub-registrar office, advocates gang up and prepare a fake sale deed between two parties and then show it as registered in pre-1998 years and mostly dated December 31. The volume register of the sub-registrar office, where all sale deeds are copied officially, of that particular year, in which this fake sale deed was shown to be registered, is taken out from the record room of the sub-registrar office unauthorisedly and made proper entry by copying the contents of the fake sale deed in that volume register,” he said.

“While making an entry in the old volume register, sometimes entry is made in the remaining blank pages of that register or additional blank pages are pinned up in that register to make the entry of the fake sale deed unauthorisedly,” he also said.

“Once the entry is made in the volume register, the fake sale deed is reported to be lost and the interested gang applies for a certified copy of the fake sale deed. When applying for a certified copy of that particular sale deed, the officials of the sub-registrar office verify that particular volume register and, as it is already entered in the volume register by the unauthorised persons, issue the certified copy of that fake sale deed which has now got the legal sanctity as it is issued by the appropriate government authority,” he further said.

“By submitting the certified copy of the forged sale deed of a plot of land, the gang applies for mutation in their names in the revenue circle office. And mostly with the connivance of unscrupulous government employees of revenue office, the mutation process gets done in the name of someone else instead of the genuine land owner,” Barah said.

“With the help of a certified copy of the fake sale deed, which has legal sanctity now and the mutation order and with muscle power or through the process of a civil court, the land mafia grabs a plot of land,” he said.

The police commissioner said there are certain loopholes in the sub-register’s office. The officials are compromised. The security of the record room is compromised.

Due diligence is lacking while issuing certified copies or issuing mutation orders. There is systemic involvement or lack of strict supervision by some of the senior officers and other government officials.

“During investigation details of government officers and other officials, advocates, mohoris and land mafias/brokers have been revealed and police will continue taking action as per law based on evidence collected,” he further said.

“The mafias chose to sign such fake documents on a back date preferably before 1998, because the land record was not digitized before that year,” he added.

“It is a joint driver and it will take time to review the entire process. We are also considering reviewing all sale deeds, which were recorded in the volume book of the sub-register office given the scandal,” Kamrup Metro DC Pallab Gopal Jha said.

“We appeal to the citizens that if any forgery is noticed by any genuine land owners in respect of their legally owned land, then they should approach the concerned revenue circle office or concerned police station by filing a detailed complaint regarding the forgery suspected. The complaints will be verified, enquired into and action will be initiated as per law and based on evidence collected,” Jha added.

The city police registered 82 cases out of 242 complaints in 2023 and arrested 71 persons in land-grabbing cases. In 2022, 53 cases were registered out of 215 complaints and 24 persons were arrested.