Ludhiana: Court orders FIR against three over property grab bid
Dr Sumeet Sofat had moved the seeking directions to the SHO of Sadar police station to act on his complaint dated January 15; despite presenting detailed allegations and documents to the police, the FIR had not been registered
The court of judicial magistrate Karun Kumar ordered the immediate registration of an FIR against three accused of criminal trespass and forgery in an alleged attempt to seize property belonging to Dr Sumeet Sofat, a city-based doctor and long-time resident of Hira Road.
Dr Sofat had moved the seeking directions to the SHO of Sadar police station to act on his complaint dated January 15. Despite presenting detailed allegations and documents to the police, the FIR had not been registered.
The court took serious note of the complaint, which accused Harwinder Singh alias Nihang of Village Sayiyan Kalan of Ludhiana, Balkirat Singh of Noorwala Road, and Vassu Madan of Satjot Nagar, Dhandran Road of criminally trespassing on Dr Sofat’s 3,000-sq-yard property in Sunet village. It was alleged that on February 14 the accused broke the locks, damaged boundary walls, and illegally occupied the premises. Further, Dr Sofat claimed that forged rent deeds were created to falsely show tenancy, enabling the fraudulent takeover.
The court order stated that even after preliminary inquiry by police officers confirmed a cognisable offence had occurred, no FIR was registered. “This is shocking,” remarked Judicial Magistrate Karun Kumar, referencing the Lalita Kumari vs State of UP judgment which mandates police to register an FIR upon receiving information of a cognisable offence.
The court further observed that the accused were not only repeat offenders—some already declared proclaimed offenders in earlier related cases—but also appeared to have forged documents to dispossess the complainant.
“The conduct of accused Harwinder Singh, who had previously attempted to seize the same property, now again executing a forged rent deed, shows a clear fraudulent and dishonest intention,” the court noted.
Consequently, the court directed the SHO of Sadar police station to register an FIR under Sections 329, 336, and 3(5) of the BNS against the accused, and under additional sections against others involved. The investigating officer has also been given liberty to add or drop charges based on evidence during investigation.
The court has asked for a compliance report along with a copy of the FIR at the next hearing.