A man has been arrested on suspicion of presenting fraudulent documents in an attempt to assert ownership of the historic Durgadi Fort located in Kalyan, Maharashtra's Thane district. According to a police official, Suyash Shirke asserted that he was a descendant of rulers from the past who once held control over the fort. He used this claim as the basis for his application submitted to the local revenue office on September 11, 2022, seeking a transfer of land ownership for the area where the fort is situated, as stated by Assistant Commissioner of Police Kalyanji Gethe.
Shirke is president of an outfit called Malshej Naneghat Va Itar Vanakshetra Aani Paryatan Sthal Vikas Samiti. In his application, Shirke attached more than half a dozen documents, some of which he claimed had been issued by the Kalyan tehsil office, he said. Since the land in question had a historical structure on it, the application was forwarded to the collectorate, while at the same time the police too approached authorities seeking details since the fort was in a dilapidated condition and in urgent need of repairs, the official explained.
When the Kalyan tehsil office verified some of the documents related to the fort on February 24 this year, officials found the documents submitted with Shirke’s application were fake with bogus signatures, letter head, rubber stamps etc, he said. As per some records, Durgadi Fort, located near Kalyan Creek and Ulhas river, was built some time after the region was conquered by Maratha forces from Adilshah in the 1660s.