Social activist booked for fraudulently selling prime land in Zirakpur

Sold 3 acres of land on the Chandigarh-Ambala highway to a builder without the authorisation of the joint owner, who has approached the Zirakpur police with a complaint.

Social activist and landowner Alamjit Singh Mann has been booked for fraudulently selling a piece of prime land on the Chandigarh-Ambala highway at Singhpura village in Zirakpur.

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Complainant Amit Nanda, partner in MMD Infrastructures, told the police that he had bought three acres from Mann in exchange for crores in July 2018 and the sale deed was executed before the Dera Bassi sub-registrar.

A portion of the land was also owned by Mann and his family. Nanda alleged that despite the land being registered jointly under his and Mann’s name, the latter fraudulently sold it to a builder without his authorisation.

The complainant said by selling off a portion of the land, which was valued at over Rs 1 lakh per square yard, the entire property was rendered useless for any project, as there is no other direct passage to it.

On Nanda’s complaint, Mann has been booked under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 82 (falsely personates another, and in such assumed character presents any document) of the Registration Act, 1908.

On his part, Mann issued a press release, stating that Nanda had filed the same complaint against him to director, Bureau of Investigation (BOI), Punjab Police Headquarters, Sector 9, Chandigarh, on July 28 last year. He claimed that after recording Nanda’s complaint and completing the investigation, BOI had found nothing incriminating against him and had closed the case in March this year.

Zirakpur station house officer (SHO) Gurwant Singh said they had booked Mann for cheating, and he will be asked to join the investigations, he added.

Last year in April, Mann and his associate, Sajjan Kumar, were booked on charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy on another complaint by Nanda, who had alleged that his firm had sustained monetary losses due to fraud by the duo.

State awardee for social service

A social activist since 1988, Mann has been working for visually impaired children, orphans and accident victims, while also performing the last rites of unclaimed bodies. He also runs a 24-hour helpline for victims of real estate cases.

He was awarded the Punjab Government State award and Parman Patra by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh at the Independence Day function in 2004.