E-Paper
Property scam: Four of a family booked for duping 79-yr-old widow, kin of ₹29 crore
The accused cultivated close relations with her over the years and convinced her to sell her Mohali plot and invest in two acres of land on Ferozepur Road near Mullanpur Dakha, the victim told police in her complaint
The Sarabha Nagar police have booked four members of a family for allegedly duping a 79-year-old widow and her relatives of nearly ₹29.28 crore through a series of fraudulent land deals, forged documents, and false promises of massive returns, in what appears to be one of the biggest property frauds registered in the city in recent years.
The accused have been identified as Bhim Sain Bansal of Rajguru Nagar, his son Rohit Bansal, daughter-in-law Himanshi Bansal and wife Savita Bansal, the police said.
According to the complaint, the victim, Usha, a widow living in the same locality, alleged that the accused cultivated close relations with her over the years and convinced her to sell her Mohali plot and invest in two acres of land on Ferozepur Road near Mullanpur Dakha. They claimed that the land had approval for a residential apartment project and said that her ₹1 crore investment would eventually returns of around ₹10 crore.
It further state that trusting the assurances, Usha sold her Mohali property and transferred ₹98 lakh through bank transactions besides paying ₹2 lakh in cash, taking her investment to ₹1.03 crore. She alleged that the accused later executed an agreement to sell the land and assured her that the sale deed would be registered on November 3, 2025.
However, when she reached the Mullanpur sub-registrar’s office on the scheduled date after allegedly handing over another ₹3 lakh towards stamp duty and the original agreement, none of the accused turned up. She claimed that when she later approached them, they refused to execute the sale deed, declined to return her money and allegedly threatened her with dire consequences. Following which she filed a complaint.
The complainant further alleged that subsequent inquiries revealed that the purported PUDA-approved layout plan shown to her was fake and that no such approval had ever been granted for the project.
According to police, during the probe the allegations that the accused had similarly induced the complainant’s family members into investing huge sums in the proposed project were also uncovered. The inquiry report states that Usha’s son-in-law allegedly paid ₹4.55 crore for a proposed purchase of 10 acres of land, while her son claimed to have paid ₹23.70 crore in cash in separate property transactions. The combined alleged fraud amounts to ₹29.28 crore.
The inquiry further found that several cheques allegedly issued by the accused as security contained mismatched signatures, strengthening allegations of forgery.
Acting on the findings, the Sarabha Nagar police registered a case under Sections 318 (4) (cheating), 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 336(2), 338, 336(3) and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Police officials said the FIR was lodged following an inquiry conducted by the CIA Staff and reviewed by the additional deputy commissioner of police (Investigation). The police are now examining the money trail, land records, banking transactions and other documentary evidence. They added that the role of any other person found involved during the investigation would also be scrutinised.
