Maharashtra: Living woman’s info used as dead woman’s to claim Rs 90-L govt compensation

The dilapidated house in Dugad village, Bhiwandi where Bhagirathi Rama Mukne lives. Pics/Hanif Patel

A 73-year-old tribal woman from Dugad village in Bhiwandi was duped by fraudsters who used her details to impersonate a dead woman to claim government compensation of over Rs 90 lakh for land. The land belonged to the deceased woman and was acquired by the government for Mumbai-Vadodara Highway works. The victim, Bhagirathi Rama Mukne, learnt of the fraud after getting notices from the Sub-Divisional Officer, asking her to return Rs 32 lakh. The woman was roped into the scam by her relatives allegedly in connivance with the fraudsters.

The fraudsters, not yet identified, learnt that two plots of land measuring 1,500 square metre each belonging to Thaki Sakhya Savar were acquired by the government. However, Savar passed away in 2011, leaving no one else to claim the land in the same village as Mukne or the compensation. The fraudsters then found Mukne, who is illiterate, and allegedly roped in her daughter Baby and grandson Bhushan Ashok Nandviskar to get Mukne's fingerprint and other details to make fake IDs, including Aadhaar card, using Savar's name.

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mid-day has access to all the documents involved in the fraud and found that the names of the fraudsters were not mentioned in any of them.

Forging documents

"Savar, the actual land owner, passed away on April 15, 2011. The fraudsters lured Mukne's close relatives to use her to claim the money for the land. After forging the documents, they made an affidavit and produced Mukne as Savar to open a bank account in July last year," said Jayendra Govind Gavit, an activist working with Shramjeevi Sanghatana that fights for the rights of tribals in Maharashtra.

The affidavit is undersigned by Mukne's grandson Nandviskar. "The same affidavit was submitted at the Bhiwandi SDO's office in July last year," he added.

Transactions

"Surprisingly, on July 27, 2021, Talathi Priya Sonawane issued a certificate saying that no tax for the land owned by Thaki Sakhya Savar was pending for the period of 2020-21. This despite Savar passing away a decade ago. The certificate issued by the talathi was sent to SDO's office, paving way for the land compensation of over Rs 90 lakh," said Gavit.

Mukne's grandson Kiran shows the notice from SDO's office

The SDO's office accordingly transferred over Rs 58 lakh to a bank account, opened in Savar's name but using Mukne's details, on August 6, 2021. The rest of the money was transferred to a different account at a later date.

"The fraudsters then withdrew the entire amount of more than Rs 90 lakh from the accounts," added Gavit.

When mid-day contacted Bhiwandi SDO Wakchaure, he listened to the case but refused to comment. Calls and messages to Talathi Priya Sonawane went unanswered.

Fraud disclosed

Gavit's colleague Navnath Bhagwan Bhoye told mid-day, "At the time of creating the fake Aadhaar card, Mukne's correct address was used. Recently, the Bhiwandi SDO's office learnt that the money transferred as compensation was more than the estimate. Accordingly, SDO Balasaheb Wakchaure sent three notices to Mukne's address, asking her to return the money."

The last notice was sent on August 29, this year. "Since Mukne is illiterate, she asked another grandson Kiran Sunil Mukne about it. Kiran found that the notice stated that ‘Savar' needed to return over Rs 32 lakh to the government as the government had mistakenly paid higher at the time of the transactions," added Bhoye, also Yuva Chief of Shramjeevi Sanghatana, Bhiwandi.

Kiran said, "It was not our land. Somebody has tricked my grandmother to extract money from the government in the name of land compensation. My grandmother's photo and details were used to make documents in the name ‘Thaki Sakhya Savar'."

Possible link of family

mid-day visited Dugad village on Monday and met Mukne who lives in a dilapidated house. She said, "My daughter Baby and her son Bhushan told me that the government had transferred a lot of money to my account and took me to the bank. They asked me to give my thumb impression on many documents. Then they dropped me back home and gave me two Rs 500 notes."

"I don't know what went wrong. My name is Bhagirathi Rama Mukne, not Thaki Sakhya Savar. I am innocent. I don't know what is going on, please help me," said a helpless Mukne, and added, "I live in this broken down house. Do you think I have Rs 90 lakh? The government notices ask me to return money, but I have not got any money from the government! What should I return?"

Need inquiry

Vivek Pandit, chairman of Tribal Development Review Committee, Maharashtra, told mid-day, "What happened is nothing short of a miracle. Fraudsters made a dead person alive to commit fraud. In the past, one SDM-rank officer was caught in a fraud of similar fashion and the investigation is underway. If the government machinery conducts random inquiries into such matters, more such cases will be unravelled."

"I have apprised the chief minister of the matter. He immediately asked the Thane Collector to probe the matter and do the needful. An FIR is yet to be registered," said Pandit.