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Are you buying land and leaving it unused for years in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar? Beware! You may not know and your land might be sold off by fraudsters using fake documents. A gang of fraudsters active in the twin cities reportedly sold such patches of land to others by using fake land documents and power of attorney.
The Commissionerate Police has busted a gang of professional fraudsters who have duped many people by selling others’ land for hefty amounts. The mastermind of the racket identified as Bikash Panda is now in the custody of the Commisionerate Police. A special crime unit is interrogating Panda about others’ involvement and the modus operandi.
Sources said the gang has tricked as many as 26 people into buying lands on the basis of forged land documents and power of attorney. The racket has allegedly duped Rs 50 lakh from them.
Speaking to media persons on Thursday, Sanjeev Satapathy, additional DCP of the Special Crime unit said, "Following allegations of fraud in land sale, we had arrested a gang of eight professional fraudsters. When they were in our custody, we had doubts that several other people might have been their victims. When these frauds were in jail, a woman from Cuttack filed a complaint alleging that a land broker named Bikash Panda tricked her into signing an agreement to sell her a patch of land. He had taken Rs 3.5 lakh from her in advance,” he said.
Also Read: Land fraud in Bhubaneswar: Court confirms attachment of Rs 2 crore property, orders sale through public auction
The Additional DCP also stated, “The matter is being investigated. Bikash Panda was taken for custodial interrogation on Wednesday. During the investigation, we came to know that Panda had signed similar agreements with 25 other people to sell lands and took over Rs 50 lakh from them. He is a professional fraud. We suspect that all the 26 land sale deeds are fictitious and fake.”
- Reported by:
- CHANDAN PAIKRAY
