Realtor stole and sold dead man's property

02 December,2010 07:11 AM IST |   |  Imran Gowhar

He forged documents and signatures, and sold the 4-acre land to a major construction company for Rs3 crore ufffd 25 years after the real owner had died


He forged documents and signatures, and sold the 4-acre land to a major construction company for Rs3 croreu00a0-- 25 years after the real owner had died

When it comes to real estate, even the dead are not spared. A realtor sold land worth Rs 3 crore to a builder, after creating fake docs in the name of a dead solider.


Retirement gift: Veluswamy was allotted four acres and one gunta of
land by special Deputy Commissioner of Bangalore city in December
1949, after his retirement from the army. Representation Pic


The incident came to light when a well-known construction company started work at the land.u00a0 When Shantha Kumari, daughter of the deceased, and a rightful owner of the land, objected about the construction, she got shock of her life when company officials showed them documents. According to the documents, they had purchased the four acres of land from S Somanna, for a whopping Rs three crores.

Kumari approached Yelahanka Sub registrar office to check the records, only to find that her father N Veluswamy, ex-serviceman, had sold the property to Somannau00a0-- 25 years after his death. Kumari approached Yelahanka police, who nabbed S Somanna from Sahakara Nagar.

Mediator to realtor
A detailed enquiry by the police revealed that Somanna was working as a mediator in the area to settle accident disputes (unregistered) and make money.

With the help of stamp vendors and workers in the sub registrar office, Somanna came to know about the land belonging to Veluswamy, untouched for many years.

With the help of his accomplice, Somanna managed to collect Veluswamy's details and created forged documents including his army ID card. He then got the registration in his name, to make it look like Veluswamy had sold the property to him in January 2006.

Clever play
Veluswamy who retired from the army in February 1946 has been allotted four acres and one gunta of land by special Deputy Commissioner of Bangalore city in December 1949.

Veluswamy died in November 1981 and the property was bequeathed to his two daughters, who are married and settled in different parts of the city.

Somanna had confirmed whether Veluswamy has any relatives. For this, he had published an advertisement in newspapers, claming that he had purchased this property and asked for any objections from the relatives.

However, both daughters did not noticed the advertisement, which led Somanna to assume that there are no relatives and went ahead clinching a deal with Nagarjuna Constructions.

However, Somanna was not aware that Veluswamy was dead, and the property now belonged to his daughtersu00a0-- Kumari and Saroja. After land prices soared, Kumari decided to sell the land and approached the Sub registrar office to know the status.

The Yelahanka police verified that the documents, including Veluswamy's signatgure were forged.

Meanwhile Somanna had already bought ten acres of land in Doddaballapura and Vijayapura. He had also renovated his house with the money.

Yelahanka police inspector Kenchegowda said that Somanna has been taken into custody for further investigations.

"We suspect that there is a nexus between him and revenue officials," he said, adding that they have booked his five associates who witnessed the property deal.
u00a0
"We have also booked a stamp paper vendor," he said. Meanwhile a spokesperson from Nagarjuna Constructions said that they were not aware of the issue.

"We have to check with the officials to know the current status," said assistant manager (HR) Madhava Reddy.
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