Land scam In Ghaziabad
Land scam In Ghaziabad Costs Govt Rs 200 cr, A 1300-Bigha Land Were Sold To 'Multiple `Owners'
Scrutinising complaints lodged in lok adalats, the Ghaziabad district administration has unearthed a scam in which plots on a 1300-bigha land were sold to multiple `owners', and the government cheated of approximately Rs 200 crore in stamp duty.
Ghaziabad District Magistrate Deepak Aggarwal said on Friday that the huge piece of land in Loni (Ghaziabad) was owned by one Jeevan Singh, and that it is worth an estimated Rs 690 crore.
Aggarwal said the land was divided into 11,000 plots and 12,000 transactions were carried out -- simply put, this means some of the plots were sold many times.
THE WHATS AND HOWS
1300-bigha land in Loni worth Rs 690 crore
Carved out into 11,000 plots
Sold 12,000 times
200-bigha govt land encroached upon
30 people involved, says Administration
Five held till date
The scam, he said, was conducted by giving false land documents and power of attorney. He said landowner Jeevan Singh's son Pratap Choudhary (a resident of Old Seelampur in Delhi) and one Arjun Singh (from Badshahpur-Siroli in Loni) ran the racket primarily. Though, "we believe Jeevan Singh started the scam in 1984; he was also named in fake dealings," the district magistrate said.
A part of the land from which 11,000 plots were carved out belongs to the government, Aggarwal said. Through small dealers, the plots were sold multiple times to people mainly from Bihar, UP, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi, he said.
The administration is not ruling out involvement of state agency officials in the scam. "The scam could not have been possible without involvement of land and revenue department officials," SDM (Sadar) Vishal Singh said. Singh had "raided offices of companies involved in these transactions" on the basis of complaints filed in lok adalats. "We recovered many documents and layout plans of the land," he said.
He said the land mafia had encroached upon around 200 bighas government land; the district administration has now reclaimed the land.
The administration, Singh said, believes some 30 people are involved the scam.
The UP Police has arrested five persons till date, officials said. The arrested persons Wajid Ali, Chajju, Tasim, Munish and Gaffar Shahjad are all said to be small-time property dealers in the area. District Magistrate Aggarwal said more arrests are likely as Ghaziabad police are working on several other leads in the case.
Scrutinising complaints lodged in lok adalats, the Ghaziabad district administration has unearthed a scam in which plots on a 1300-bigha land were sold to multiple `owners', and the government cheated of approximately Rs 200 crore in stamp duty.
Ghaziabad District Magistrate Deepak Aggarwal said on Friday that the huge piece of land in Loni (Ghaziabad) was owned by one Jeevan Singh, and that it is worth an estimated Rs 690 crore.
Aggarwal said the land was divided into 11,000 plots and 12,000 transactions were carried out -- simply put, this means some of the plots were sold many times.
THE WHATS AND HOWS
1300-bigha land in Loni worth Rs 690 crore
Carved out into 11,000 plots
Sold 12,000 times
200-bigha govt land encroached upon
30 people involved, says Administration
Five held till date
The scam, he said, was conducted by giving false land documents and power of attorney. He said landowner Jeevan Singh's son Pratap Choudhary (a resident of Old Seelampur in Delhi) and one Arjun Singh (from Badshahpur-Siroli in Loni) ran the racket primarily. Though, "we believe Jeevan Singh started the scam in 1984; he was also named in fake dealings," the district magistrate said.
A part of the land from which 11,000 plots were carved out belongs to the government, Aggarwal said. Through small dealers, the plots were sold multiple times to people mainly from Bihar, UP, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi, he said.
The administration is not ruling out involvement of state agency officials in the scam. "The scam could not have been possible without involvement of land and revenue department officials," SDM (Sadar) Vishal Singh said. Singh had "raided offices of companies involved in these transactions" on the basis of complaints filed in lok adalats. "We recovered many documents and layout plans of the land," he said.
He said the land mafia had encroached upon around 200 bighas government land; the district administration has now reclaimed the land.
The administration, Singh said, believes some 30 people are involved the scam.
The UP Police has arrested five persons till date, officials said. The arrested persons Wajid Ali, Chajju, Tasim, Munish and Gaffar Shahjad are all said to be small-time property dealers in the area. District Magistrate Aggarwal said more arrests are likely as Ghaziabad police are working on several other leads in the case.