Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
A staggering land scam has surfaced in Bhimsandesh Backward Class Cooperative Housing Society, Padegaon, where 61 plots were fraudulently sold, siphoning off crores of rupees. Acting on a complaint from auditor Ganesh Sarg, the Cantonment police station has registered cases against 107 individuals, including those who forged documents to gain society membership and those who purchased plots unlawfully.
The case revolves around a 5,600-square-meter land parcel in Gat (survey) number 70, originally allocated for residential use to society members. Classified under Class 2, this land is non-transferable and cannot be sold, mortgaged, or rented without the district collector’s approval. Moreover, plot registrations at the sub-registrar’s office were legally barred. However, despite these restrictions, the land was illicitly sold, triggering a major investigation.
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Forgery, fake committees, and illegal sales
Investigations reveal that between 2007 and 2009, former society secretary Sudhakar Shinde unlawfully sold 15 plots. Further deepening the fraud, Prakash Deorao Gaikwad falsely represented himself as the society’s secretary, fabricating letterheads and seals. In 2014, the teshil deputy registrar of cooperative societies appointed an administrator to oversee the society’s affairs. However, instead of rectifying the situation, the administrator allegedly formed an unauthorized committee to target the society’s chairman. Though this committee was later dissolved, Gaikwad continued his operations as if it were still active. Gaikwad, along with Pravin Suryabhan Jadhav, Pramod Suryabhan Jadhav, and Chandrabhan Jadhav, manipulated documents to register and sell multiple plots.
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Municipal oversight and financial losses
Shockingly, fake documents facilitated the sale of plots, leading to property tax impositions and issuance of electricity meters by the municipal corporation. Gaikwad’s wife, a supervisor in the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, allegedly used a forged income certificate to purchase a plot. Several buyers suffered losses of up to Rs 25 lakh each. The scam’s estimated total value stands at Rs 1.25 crore. PSI Vijay Jagdale is spearheading the probe, as authorities work to unravel the full extent of the fraud and bring the culprits to justice.