Nine arrested for fraudulently selling ₹12cr plot in Noida

A gang of nine people was arrested by Noida Police on Wednesday for allegedly falsifying ownership documents and attempting to sell a 375-square-metre plot in Sector 55, valued at ₹12 crore, using fake registry papers. The fraud came to light when the genuine owner discovered that financiers were inspecting his land for a loan, police said. 

Police said that the complainant, Shashikant Rai, 30, a Delhi resident from Vivek Vihar, approached Sector 58 police on February 14 after reviewing CCTV footage that showed a group breaking into his vacant plot in Block A, Sector 55, Noida. 

During the investigation, police found that financiers from a private company had visited the plot to sanction a ₹3.21-crore loan for Itesh Poswal, a Ghaziabad-based cement trader. Poswal had allegedly partnered with the accused to fraudulently claim ownership of the plot at a much lower price of ₹3.75 crore.

“Rakesh Bisht, identified as the mastermind, filed a lost article report (LAR) at Sector 55 police station, claiming that his property papers were missing,” deputy commissioner of police (Noida) Ram Badan Singh said. Using the FIR copy, he obtained the original registry papers from the Noida authority, created fake ownership documents, and tried to sell the land to Poswal, he added.

Poswal paid ₹50 lakh in cash and approached a private bank to finance the remaining amount. When the bank’s representatives sought to inspect the land before issuing the loan, the suspects broke the gate locks, which was captured on CCTV, leading to their exposure, police said.

The arrested suspects, aged between 30 and 40, include Devashish Kumar, Itesh Poswal, Anil Kumar, Vibhuti Kumar, Abhishek Mathur, Sanjay Shah, Kaptan, Rakesh Bisht, and Nitish Poswal. Police are searching for a tenth unidentified suspect. 

DCP Singh further said that Bisht had asked his associate Devashish, a private school teacher in front of the Block A plot, to find abandoned properties for fraudulent transactions. “Over 12 years of observation, they assumed the plot was unclaimed and attempted to dupe its rightful owner,” Singh added. 

 A case has been registered at Sector 58 police station under sections 318(4) (cheating), 338 (forgery of valuable security), 336(3) (forgery), 340(2) (forged electronic document), and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, police said.