Ludhiana: Sub-registrar among 9 booked for fraudulently selling NRI’s land

{Advocate held}

The vigilance bureau (VB) on Friday booked nine accused, including a sub-registrar, for allegedly executive a sale deed of a non-resident Indian’s (NRI) land, officials said, adding that an advocate was arrested in connection with the matter.

The action comes as the accused allegedly executed the sale deed of the 14-kanal land using forged documents. Officials said the land belongs to an NRI residing in the US, identified as Deep Singh, and was illegally sold at a price below its market value.

The VB arrested advocate Gurcharan Singh from Ludhiana, who played a key role in facilitating the land registration.

A VB spokesperson identified the accused as sub-registrar Jagsir Singh Saran, who executed the fraudulent sale deed, buyer Deepak Goel, numberdar Baghel Singh, who appeared as a witness, registry clerk Krishan Gopal, advocate Gurcharan Singh, who signed as a witness, Amit Gaur, who signed on behalf of the buyer, an unidentified man posing as Deep Singh, a computer operator and property dealer Raghbir Singh.

According to the official spokesperson, the VB Ludhiana Range conducted a surprise check at the sub-registrar office, West tehsil, on February 21 following intelligence inputs about fraudulent land registrations.

Investigations revealed that the sale deed for the prime land located near the Lodhowal-Verka bypass in Noorpur Bet village was executed on February 11 between Deep Singh and Deepak Goel from Panchkula at an undervalued price of ₹30 lakh. However, the land’s market value is around ₹6 crore. The probe into this undervaluation found that the real owner, 55-year-old Deep Singh, had been residing in the US since birth and the sale deed was executed by an imposter.

During the check, the original sale deed was seized, and verification confirmed the fraud.

Further inquiry established that the disputed land, under the jurisdiction of Ladhowal police station, was sold using forged Aadhaar and PAN cards to pass off an impostor as Deep Singh.

The investigation revealed ‘serious lapses’ on part of the revenue officials, who failed to conduct due diligence and verify the identity of those involved in the transaction. Based on the findings, a first-information report (FIR) was registered under sections 318(4), 319(2), 336(2), 336(3), 338, 340(2) and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the economic offences wing police station and was sent to VB Ludhiana range for investigation.

Advocate Gurcharan Singh will be produced in a court on Saturday. A hunt is on to nab the remaining accused, officials said.