‘Dead’ father files case against son for false claims of his death to get loan

A man has accused his son of acquiring a loan on the false claim of his death, apart from attempting to seize the ancestral property in Jharkhand.

A man in Jharkhand’s Seraikela-Kharsawan district has approached police for protection from his son, who acquired a bank loan six years ago claiming his father was dead.

Satya Nath Mandal has approached Jamshedpur Police seeking protection from his son who had mortgaged ancestral property by falsely claiming his father had died. (Representative photo/Shutterstock)

Satya Nath Mandal went to the Jamshedpur Police alleging his son had forcibly taken up residence in his house and was attempting to take over his property.

The accused, Durga Charan Mandal, had in 2006 declared his father dead and mortgaged the family’s ancestral property to acquire a loan from a bank. The family was unaware of this until earlier this month when the bank came looking for Durga who remains in debt.

To evade the officials, Durga left his house in Gamharia, Seraikela-Kharsawan district, and came to his father’s home in Jamshedpur’s Sonari locality. Satya, a pensioner with the postal department, also alleged that his son has since been attempting to bully him into leaving the house and going back to his village.

“We have received a complaint from Satya Mandal. Punitive actions would be taken against his errant son if the charges are found to be correct,” a senior official with Jamshedpur senior police superintendent’s office, said.

Satya’s lawyer, Sudhir Kumar Pappu, said that Durga had already begun constructing rooms for his family to stay without seeking his father’s consent.

“He is threatening his father with dire consequences if the old man confronted him. I had accompanied the victim to the Sr SP office. The local police station would be visiting his house in the evening for an on-the-spot inspection,” the lawyer said.

As per land records, Satya and his two brothers own ancestral land measuring 9 acres 43 decimals at Bhurudih village in Seraikela-Kharswan village. Durga is eldest of Satya’s three sons. When Satya’s wife died in 2004, he moved to his Sonari house along with his two younger sons, but Durga stayed back. It was during this time that Durga acquired the loan.

Sudhir Pappu is also pushing for prosecuting the then circle inspector of Seraikela and officials of the bank who approved the loan without verifying the documents that declared Satya as dead.