GLADA SCOs fraud: Murder accused held

The police have recovered the computer used in producing fake documents and stamp paper besides some cash

The police on Thursday arrested a murder accused in connection with the case involving the selling of properties of Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA), taking the total number of arrests in the case to five.

A total of five accused have been arrested so far in the case, including a woman. (HT)

The accused, Manjit Singh alias Jassa, was produced in the court on Thursday and was remanded to one-day police custody. During police investigation, the police found his involvement in a murder case lodged at Daba police station in 2016. Jassa is facing trial in at least four cases including murder, attempt to murder and kidnapping.

A total of five accused have been arrested so far in the case, including a woman.

The police have recovered the computer used in producing fake documents and stamp paper besides some cash. One of the realtors, who was one of the masterminds of the gang, had hid the money in the house of his relatives in Pathankot. The police conducted a raid and recovered the money.

During the probe, the police also found about the involvement of three retired tehsildars and a former MLA in the fraud. Two of the tehsildars have shifted abroad after their retirement, while one of them is settled in Haryana.

After the police had initiated an investigation, they received another complaint against the accused. As many as 13 persons, including GLADA officials, are booked by the police in the fraud.

According to the police, the accused used to dispose of files of shop-cum-offices (SCOs), whose owners have died or settled abroad. They prepared fake documents of the SCOs and sell the same further. The police claimed that the accused had disposed of as many as 88 files so far, out of which 28 files have been recovered so far.

The matter was surfaced in January 8 after the Model Town police had lodged an FIR against Tarun Taneja of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Harwinder Singh Sachdeva of Phase-1 Dugri, his brother Parminder Singh Sachdeva, Mandeep Singh of Phullanwal, Upjeet Singh of Basant Avenue, Naresh Sharma of Phase-2 in Dugri, Harjinder Kang of Shimlapuri, Vijay alias Sonu Mahajan of Punjab Mata Nagar, Deepak Ahuja, Laddi of Rahon Road Ludhiana, Manish Puri of Ludhiana and Amit Kumar of Dhandra Road.

The FIR was lodged following the complaint of Deepak Kathuria, 39, of Model Town Extension. The accused had duped him of ₹5.5 crore by selling an SCO in Dugri using fake documents.

Commissioner of police Kuldeep Singh Chahal said that more arrests are expected in the case.