Mumbai builder held in Ahmedabad in ₹50-crore land grab case

Lakdawala was brought to Mumbai on a transit remand and will be produced in a city court on Saturday.

Officials of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the city police on Friday arrested developer and film financer Yusuf Mohammed Lakdawala, 74, from Ahmedabad airport, in connection with a ₹50-crore land fraud case, while he was allegedly trying to escape to London.

Yusuf Mohammed Lakdawala, 74, was arrested from Ahmedabad airport. (HT File)

Joint commissioner of police (EOW) Deven Bharati confirmed the development. Lakdawala was brought to Mumbai on a transit remand and will be produced in a city court on Saturday.

As reported by HT on April 9, Lakdawala and his associate, Mohan R Nair, were booked earlier this month on the complaint of Jitendra Badgujar, a sub-registrar in Maval taluka, for cheating, forgery, conspiracy under sections 465, 466, 467, 468, 471, 420, 120-B and 201 of IPC and section 82 of Indian Registration Act. Badgujar, in his complaint, had said Lakdawala, Nair and officials at his Mawal office conspired to usurp 4.38 acres of land in Khandala.

According to an EOW official, the property belongs to the family of an erstwhile Hyderabad Nawab, Himayat Nawaz Jung Bahadur. To usurp the land, Lakdawala allegedly forged agreement papers, dating back to 1949, between his late father, Mohammad Ahmed Lakdawala and the late Nawab, said the official.

They allegedly obtained an affidavit and a deed of confirmation on the basis of these fake documents, the complainant stated. Badjugar alleged the accused used the registration number of the original document, recorded with the Mumbai registrar’s office. “Lakdawala then tried to destroy the original records of the land at the Mawal revenue office,” the official said.

A look out circular (LoC) was issued against Lakdawala after the EOW took over the case, initially registered with the MRA Marg police in March, after officials learnt that he was planning to escape abroad. “The investigation is on. Those who had collaborated in the crime will be nabbed,” said deputy commissioner of police (DCP), EOW, Parag Manare, indicating there may be more arrests in the case.

Devidas Kadu, corporator from Bhangarwadi, Mawal, the whistle-blower in this case, said, “It’s a larger conspiracy and the police must probe it thoroughly.”

In 2010, the late Bollywood actor Sadhana had filed an FIR against Lakdawala and his wife, alleging that the duo threatened to kill her after she refused to vacate a bungalow in Khar. Lakdawala was later acquitted in the case.