Raigad MNS leader booked for forging collector’s signature to convert land

The Raigad president of MNS’s women’s wing has been booked for allegedly forging the stamp and signature of former collector Nidhi Chaudhary to convert her agricultural land in Panvel to non-agricultural for the purpose of construction

The Raigad president of MNS’s women’s wing has been booked for allegedly forging the stamp and signature of former collector Nidhi Chaudhary to convert her agricultural land in Panvel to non-agricultural for the purpose of construction.

Raigad MNS leader booked for forging collector’s signature to convert land

According to the Khandeshwar police, the accused, Aditi Ashish Sonar, is yet to be arrested.

The forgery came to light when Milind Khade, a social worker from Kamothe and an MNS activist, learnt about the ongoing construction on Sonar’s agricultural land and approached the city surveyor. He got hold of the copy of a letter that said it was a non-agricultural plot.

When he verified the document at Raigad collector office, he found out that such a letter was never issued by the office during Chaudhari’s tenure.

“The site where Sonar has started the construction is at the foothills of Matheran and falls under the Matheran Eco Sensitive Zone, a RTI reply has revealed. It has been found that Sonar used a forged letter from the collectorate while registering the housing project with MahaRERA. Hence, she has not just committed forgery of a government official letter, but also erected illegal buildings and cheated buyers. Of the eight buildings, six have already been completed,” Khade said.

Sonar could not be contacted for her comments.

Present collector Mahendra Kalyankar directed the Panvel divisional office to file a complaint. On Wednesday, a case under sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), and 471 (using forged document as genuine) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Khandeshwar police station.

“Investigation is on and no arrest has been made yet,” senior police inspector Subhash Kokate said.

The land in question is located at Vihighar village in Panvel taluka and a housing complex with eight four-storey buildings are being constructed at the site.