3 held for using forged papers to stake claim on GK-1 property

Police said the case was reported by a Greater Kailash-I resident, who alleged that a fraudulent public notice had been published in a national newspaper, falsely claiming ownership of his ancestral property.

New Delhi: Delhi Police’s Crime Branch has arrested three men for allegedly using forged documents and fraudulent legal proceedings to claim illegal ownership on a residential property in Greater Kailash-I, officials said on Saturday.

An FIR was registered at Greater Kailash police station (Representative photo)

The three accused — Ashish Chaudhary, Vineet Kumar Saigal and Dilip Kumar Pandey, all aged around 30 years — were arrested on January 22 from Rohini.

Police said the case was reported by a Greater Kailash-I resident, who alleged that a fraudulent public notice had been published in a national newspaper, falsely claiming ownership of his ancestral property.

Police verification established that the complainant and his family had been in lawful possession of the property for decades, supported by registered sale deeds and gift deeds, police said.

An FIR was registered at Greater Kailash police station, and the case was transferred to the Crime Branch’s southern Range for investigation.

According to police, the suspects conspired to target properties, particularly those owned by elderly persons, and forged ownership documents to make false claims.

DCP (Crime) Aditya Gautam said: “The documents included fabricated wills, sale deeds and a purported release deed to establish a fake chain of ownership. To give legitimacy to their claims, the accused would then file civil suits in various courts. They made fictitious witnesses, some of whom were deceased, while others had incorrect or non-existent addresses.”

In the Greater Kailash case, investigators found that two separate sets of forged documents had been prepared to stake claim over the same property. The complainant learnt about the fraud after a relative alerted him to a classified advertisement published by Saigal, claiming ownership of the property.

A police team, led by inspector Vijay Pal Dahiya, conducted raids based on the forged documents recovered during the probe and identified Chaudhary as a practising advocate. Chaudhary and his associates were held last week. Police said Pandey has previous criminal involvements.

“The investigation is ongoing to identify other members of the network, trace similar cases and ascertain whether more properties were targeted using the same modus operandi,” Gautam said.