One held, four booked for forgery against DLF

A 55-year-old businessman from Delhi was arrested and four others were booked at DLF Phase 2 police station on Wednesday for allegedly forging documents to purchase

A 55-year-old businessman from Delhi was arrested and four others were booked at DLF Phase 2 police station on Wednesday for allegedly forging documents to purchase a piece of land of DLF’s that had been leased out by the developer to a school for 99 years, the police said.

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According to the police, they received a complaint from Sanjeev Arora, the general manager of DLF Qutub Enclave Complex Educational Charitable Trust, against Sandeep Singh Bhatia, a resident of Rajouri Garden in Delhi, and filed an FIR against him, his wife, and three others, including the wife of a late army officer who had taken the land on lease from DLF.

Arora alleged that Bhatia had created false documents in the form of a General Power of Attorney (GPA) on September 19, 2006, and bought land that had been on lease from August 2005. “He paid ₹98 lakh to the army officer’s wife to transfer the land to him. The land had been leased to her and she had no right to sell or transfer it to anyone without the consent of DLF,” he said.

The police said the army officer’s wife had applied for the lease to be extended for four years—it had initially been leased for 95 years in 2008. The police said DLF was initially not aware of the ₹98 lakh transaction and it had filed a complaint only against Bhatia but the police included others after their role in the forgery emerged during the investigation.

DLF filed a civil suit against Bhatia in 2012, after they learned that the land that was sold to him did not belong to the woman in the first place. The decree was given in their favour in 2014, following which Bhatia filed counter complaints against DLF and its officials with the police, and filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High court, alleging that police personnel were hand in glove with DLF.

Chander Mohan, deputy commissioner of police (east), said that after document verification, it was found that Bhatia had forged the GPA documents of the charitable school site. “Bhatia forged the GPA to make false and malicious allegations in 2016 against the complainant and its officials with the motive to threaten and extract money from the complainant,” he said.

The police said Bhatia had filed complaints with them on February 19, 2016, and on May 18, 2016, against the officials of DLF Limited and DLF Qutab Enclave Complex Educational Charitable Trust, alleging them to be guilty of committing cheating, forgery, and destruction of valuable security.

DCP Mohan said Bhatia falsely represented himself as the GPA holder of the land. “He also stated that the said GPA was a registered document in the office of the sub-registrar in New Delhi. He represented that the woman had given him all rights to deal with the property of 809.37 square yard metres on Akash Neem Marg in DLF Phase 2, which were found forged,” he said.

The land is a school site and the GPA executants had been given the lease rights for 99 years. The present worth of the land is nearly ₹15 crore, the police said.

The police said that during the investigation, Bhatia corroborated his status of GPA by recording his statement before the Investigating Officer, the economic offence wing (east), on April 1, 2016. “After recording his statements and of the complainant officials, nothing incriminating was found against the complainant and its officials, and therefore, the complaint was closed by the EOW,” the DCP said.

The police said the suspect is involved in multiple fraud cases registered against him in Delhi. “His modus operandi is to take land or floors on rent and later forge documents and sell to others. He has been forging documents for the past several years,” the DCP said.

When Bhatia allegedly failed to achieve his motive, he filed a petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh, praying for directions to the commissioner of police, Gurugram and the investigating officer of EOW to produce the entire record relating to the complaints including the report prepared by the investigating officer, recommending the registration of an FIR against DLF and its officials for fraud and cheating.

A report on October 26, 2018, was obtained by the EOW concerning the GPA from Delhi’s Sub-Registrar office and they informed the police that no record of any such registry was found in their records.

Arora said that they were shocked to know that applications filed by the woman before the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) for approval of building plans were made based on forged documents. “Bhatia, by using a fabricated GPA, filed a false complaint against DLF and its officials, and openly threatened them that if the company and its officers would not adhere to his terms and settle the issue as per his desire, they would face dire consequences,” he said.

Further, he also submitted an allegedly forged and fabricated supplementary lease deed dated September 28, 2006, to the DTCP for the approval of the building plan and misled the competent authority and used forged and fabricated as genuine articles. He started the construction of a school in 2011, the police said.

A case under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery of valuable security, will), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using forged document as genuine) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code at DLF Phase 2 police station.

Bhatia was produced before the court on Thursday and was sent to 14-day judicial custody, the police said.