2 held for trying to grab land

A 65-year-old man and his property dealer associate were arrested for trying to usurp prime property owned by someone who had helped the former get a job more than two decades ago, police said on Thursday.

A 65-year-old man and his property dealer associate were arrested for trying to usurp prime property owned by someone who had helped the former get a job more than two decades ago, police said on Thursday.

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Ashok Chand, deputy commissioner of police (crime) said Bharat Singh (42), a graduate who suffered losses in business, and his associate Jamuna Prasad, a contractor, were apprehended for attempting to grab 500 sq. yards of property on Pankha Road using forged documents .

"The arrests came following a complaint filed on November 1 by a civil engineer residing in Janakpuri. Prasad works as a construction contractor and was provided shelter in Delhi by the engineer's father, Dalpat, who appointed him as a watchman of the property more than 25 years ago," said Chand.

Prasad had, in fact, colluded with Singh to forge ownership documents of the same property, which is owned by Dalpat's wife, when promised a hefty amount by Singh. Singh had some fish ponds but suffered heavy losses before switching over to property dealing.

"The engineer received threat calls on November 1. After identifying the caller as Singh, he approached him and Singh told him that he had purchased the plot from Prasad in July 2010 for R25 lakh," Chand said. The possession letter produced by Singh had purportedly been executed in favour of Prasad in April 1984 by Dalpat himself and bore signatures of two witnesses who later said that their signatures had been forged.