Thane fraudster grabs 1.20-hectare land using forged power of attorney; case filed in Satara

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

A Thane-based fraudster, with help from agents in Bidkin and Satara, allegedly usurped 1 hectare 20 R of agricultural land at Shekta in Paithan taluka by preparing forged documents and a bogus power of attorney, and later sold it for Rs 15.30 lakh.

The accused Habib Saleh(49, Kalyan West, Thane), Vijay Kale (32, Shivni Bidkin), and Sheikh Ayub Sheikh (40, Satara area) created a fake power of attorney in March 2026 in the name of landowner Prashant Prabhakar Pargaonkar and executed sale deed No. 3394/2026. Ahmed posed as the authorised representative to complete the transaction.

Suspicion arose over the attached general power of attorney (Doc No. 2538/2025); verification revealed the document number belonged to another person, exposing the forgery.

As deputy sub-registrars lack powers under the Registration Act, 1908 to verify attached documents, the accused allegedly exploited this loophole and made false statements during registration. Acting under Section 83, deputy sub-registrar Jagdish Rozekar lodged a complaint at Satara police station. Police sub inspector Dilip Bachate is investigating.