Special team to probe economic frauds and realty sector crime in Noida

According to the police, over 500 criminal cases related to the real estate sector have been filed till date at different police stations across areas under the respective jurisdictions of Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities.

A special expert team is set to be formed to investigate crimes related to the real estate sector as well as economic frauds, senior police officers said Monday.

Noida and Greater Noida have become hubs of criminal cases related to real estate sector, with over 15-20 cases being reported per month. There are cases where a broker has sold plots on government land or flood plains of Hindon and Yamuna, thereby cheating property buyers (Bloomberg / Photo used for representational purpose)

According to the police, over 500 criminal cases related to the real estate sector have been filed till date at different police stations across areas under the respective jurisdictions of Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities.

However, in the absence of expert officials in police stations, such cases often remain unresolved for a long time and homebuyers or victims of such frauds fail to get timely justice, the police said.

“We have decided to identify expert officials, who will be a part of this special expert team dedicated to cases related with the real estate sector and economic frauds. A deputy superintendent of police (DSP) will head this team. Other officials for this team will be finalised as soon as possible. We want to deliver speedy justice to victims,” Vaibhav Krishna, senior superintendent of police, Gautam Budh Nagar, said.

Home buyers alleged that as of now, victims of property cheating and fraud have to run from pillar-to-post to get their FIRS registered against builders or offenders, in the respective police station.

“Most of the FIRS against the builders, and others accused of cheating in real estate-related cases, are filed only on orders of the Gautam Budh Nagar district court. Even after the FIR is filed against a builder, the station house officer hardly acts to take the cases to a logical end to deliver justice,” Harsh Thapar, a homebuyer, who alleged that he was cheated of ₹80 lakh by realty firm Earth Group, claimed.

Thousands of homebuyers, who booked flats in housing projects of Earth Group, Premia Group, Shubhkamna Buildtech, Rajnigandha and 3C developers, among others, have failed to get justice as the police has been unable to complete probe, senior officers said. The builders were not available for comments despite efforts to reach them.

“The special expert team will first conduct a preliminary probe before filing an FIR to ascertain if the alleged crime comes under the jurisdiction of the police. Once the FIR is filed, the constituted team will do its job. There are over 500 cases related with real estate victims and those who are cheated by land mafia,” the SSP added.

The police have decided to form an expert team so that the complainants do not have to suffer by visiting the police stations, where experts are not available to deal such cases, officers said.

Noida and Greater Noida have become hubs of criminal cases related with real estate sector, with over 15-20 cases being reported per month. There are cases where a broker has sold plots on government land or flood plains of Hindon and Yamuna, thereby cheating property buyers.

“We want to deal with land mafia, who cheat buyers by selling government land, through this expert team,” Krishna added.