Land grabbing remains a big menace
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Between July 2006 and June 2007, the Central Crime Branch CCB recovered 296.5 acres of land valued at Rs 269 crores from persons who had fraudulently taken possession , writes L. Srikrishna
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PHOTO: K.RAMESH BABU
SERIOUS ISSUE: Land grabbing has become a matter of concern.
Land grabbing has become a big menace for property owners, potential buyers and genuine property developers in Chennai.
The fact that between July 2006 and June 2007, the Central Crime Branch (CCB), a wing of the Chennai Police, had recovered 296.5 acres of grabbed land valued at Rs 269 crores from persons who had allegedly taken possession by using force or other mean
s is proof that land grabbing remains thick and a cause for concern to the investing public. The number of petitions received from the public continues to rise, according to officers attached to the CCB.
Speaking to The Hindu Property Plus, Additional Commissioner of Police S.R.Jangid said the special teams in the CCB had solved many complicated cases and restored immovable properties to the rightful owners as per the law.
In the process, the police recently detained three persons under the Goondas Act after they were allegedly found to be habitual offenders, who tampered with the official seals of the sub-registrar’s office and created fake stamps to give an impression that the documents were genuine.
Types of grabbing
Normally, land grabbing is done by anti-socials who come to know that the real owners are away or settled abroad for a fairly long time. Once assured about the owners’ absence, they indulge in encroachment of the property, and subsequently sell them to potential investors at hefty prices.
When a genuine owner wants to sell his/her property, a copy of the documents is given to the broker. However, some of the brokers misuse the papers and commit breach of trust.
With the connivance of few insiders in the sub-registrar’s office they forge the documents and get the sale deed registered.
According to an officer, in a specific case, a tenant created a fake power of attorney and executed the sale deed on the house where he lived as though he was the real owner.
Listing out a few more types, investigation officers said that a gang created fake death certificates and based on them prepared fake legal heir certificates.
Subsequently, they fabricated the documents and created forged power of attorney and registered the sale deed as though they were the real owners.
How the police act
When a complaint of land grabbing is reported, the police register a case under the relevant IPC sections. The petitioner and the counter petitioner are summoned to produce the documents to substantiate their claims over the property. The sub-registrar of the jurisdiction concerned is then addressed to furnish a certified copy of the sale deed or the encumbrance certificate.
In the case of death certificate, the corporation or the municipality is addressed to find out whether the certificate was issued by them and the tahsildar would clarify on the legal heir certificate.
The Field Measurement Book or FMB register is also taken from the taluk office for necessary references when there is any dispute over survey number or chitta and patta.
The signatures are sent to the forensic sciences lab and fingerprint experts for scientific examination. Based on their reports, the investigation officer is able to come to a conclusion and the accused is remanded to judicial custody.
Grab prone areas
According to the officers, Pallikaranai, Medavakkam, Velachery, Madipakkam, Neelankarai, Selayur, Mambalam, Ambathur, Sholinganallur, Porur and Injambakkam are some of the areas from where they receive complaints frequently.
The police received 330 petitions in 2005, and 787 in 2006. Till Marchthis year, the number of petitions had crossed 300.
Training
The CCB officers are imparted training on how to investigate and handle complicated cases which involve land grab, bank frauds, cyber crime, job racket and other white collar offences. Apart from organising workshops and seminars, the police officers interact with bankers and revenue authorities.
Commissioner of Police Letika Saran has warned that whoever indulges in illegal acts such as land grabbing would be severely dealt with as per the law. Any person found to be a habitual offender will be detained under Act XIV of 1982.
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