Mohali: Woman excise inspector booked for ₹20 lakh fraud

According to police, excise inspector Santosh Rani took ₹20 lakh as advance from the complainant for a land deal, even though she had already sold the property to another party

A woman excise inspector from Mohali has been booked for bilking a Fatehgarh Sahib resident of ₹20 lakh through a fraudulent land deal.

After paying an advance of ₹20 lakh for the land, when the complainant visited the property in Mohali’s Khapur village, he found construction already underway at the site. (HT)

According to police, excise inspector Santosh Rani took ₹20 lakh as advance from the complainant, even though she had already sold the land to another party. She is the wife of Congress leader and former Banga MLA Mohan Lal.

In his complaint to the Mohali senior superintendent of police (SSP), Jagjit Singh of Chunni Khurd, Fatehgarh Sahib, said he had finalised a deal with Rani to buy her one acre and 600 square yards land at Khapur village, Kharar, for ₹80 lakh, and had paid ₹20 lakh as advance.

During a visit to the said property, he saw flats being constructed there. On digging deeper, he found that Rani had already sold the land to another person for ₹41.6 lakh.

When he demanded his money back, Rani initially agreed to return it, but later backtracked.

After receiving the complaint, the SSP marked the investigation to a DSP-rank officer. Following the officer’s report and legal opinion, Rani was booked under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code. No arrest has been made yet.