Thane: Man booked for submitting forged documents to seek ownership of Kalyan's historic Durgadi Fort

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A man was booked for allegedly submitting fake documents to lay claim to the historic Durgadi Fort in Kalyan in Maharashtra's Thane district, a police official said on Friday.

Suyash Shirke claimed he was the descendant of some of the yesteryear rulers who had possession of the fort, on the basis of which he submitted an application to the local revenue office on September 11, 2022 seeking transfer of the ownership of the land on which the structure stands, Assistant Commissioner of Police Kalyanji Gethe told reporters.

"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.

On Thursday, a staffer of the Kalyan tehsil office filed a complaint with MFC police station, based on which Shirke was charged with cheating, forgery and other offences under provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

Efforts are on to nab Shirke, the ACP told reporters.

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.

The fort has a temple of Goddess Durga, from which the structure gets its name.

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