Navi Mumbai crime: Three arrested for forgery, cheating

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The Navi Mumbai police arrested three men, including two real estate agents, for forging documents of a plot belonging to the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) in Belapur. They sold the plot to the victim for Rs 1.86 crore. The accused trio is also suspected of cheating scores of people using the same modus operandi and misusing the name of CIDCO authority.

According to police, four plots of a total 694 square meters near Belapur Village in Navi Mumbai were sold to a Nerul-based builder Dinesh Patel by two real estate agents- Lavesh Jadhav and Prabhakar Mhatre, and their accomplice Narendra Patel, a builder. According the police, the accused had shown forged documents to Dinesh, which stated the plots belonged to a deceased man named Joma Koli, which was granted to him by CIDCO under the 12.5% scheme. Meanwhile, the plots belonged to development authority.

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With the help of the forged documents such as allotment letter, memorandum of understanding (MoU), lease agreement, supplementary deed, the trio signed a tripartite agreement with Dinesh and sold him the plots. According to the police, the plots were sold for Rs 1.86 crore, which was paid by Dinesh through a demand draft last year.

A few months later, in December 2018, Dinesh received a letter that he cannot construct any structure on the plots, as it belonged to CIDCO. He immediately approached CIDCO and was shocked to learn that he had been duped. After consulting various authorities, Dinesh registered a case against Jadhav, Mhatre and Patel at NRI Sagari police station.

Recently, Navi Mumbai Police had been receiving similar complaints of forgery and cheating of builders under the pretext of buying CIDCO resale plots. Taking cognisance of the matter, police formed a team with officers from Crime Branch and Economic Offences Wing. After months of investigation, police received a tip-off about the accused trio and a trap was laid to arrest them.

The trio was arrested from Belapur on Wednesday and booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for cheating, forgery and common intention. Police are investigating the matter further and suspect they might have duped many people using the same modus operandi.

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