More than 28 grounds of a prime plot on Walltax Road, estimated to be worth over Rs. 50 crore, were usurped by a land-grabbing gang that included an acupuncture practitioner.
Four persons were arrested in connection with the land fraud. Sources with the Central Crime Branch (CCB) said Vijayaraj (64) of Adyar, Chelliah (58) of Besant Nagar and Peter D’cruz (50) of Mandaveli, all real estate brokers, and Dhanapalakrishnan (48) of Villivakkam, an acupuncture practitioner, plotted to grab the land, along with Seenan (45) of Broadway, the prime suspect in the case.
The complainant, Vikram Chhabria, whose grandfather Narain Singh purchased the 28-ground plot, spread over 473 sq. ft., and registered it before his demise in 1971, said the property had been caught in legal tangle for years.
“Seenan, who was a local real estate agent, plotted to grab the land along with his accomplices Vijayaraj, Chelliah, Peter and Dhanapalakrishnan.
They forged a sale deed that showed Narain Singh had sold the land to Vijayaraj in 1969 and inserted the fake documents in the property file at the sub-registrar office in Purasawalkam, after removing some of the original documents,” said S. Jayakumar, deputy commissioner of CCB.
The culprits then made a sale agreement with a Bangalore-based buyer in August following which Chhabria lodged a complaint with the police. Additional commissioner of CCB, R.S. Nallasivam, ordered a probe into the case.
While the prime suspect Seenan was arrested a few weeks ago, his accomplices Vijayaraj, Chelliah, Peter and Dhanapalakrishnan were arrested on Sunday. They were remanded to custody and sent to Puzhal prison. A search is on for other suspects involved in the land fraud, sources said.
