PANAJI
After the Civil Registrar-cum-Sub Registrar of Bardez was found to have demanded an inquiry into 22 suspicious property documents ranging from 1965 to 2007, similar cases of fake documents in land sales have also come to light in Tiswadi, Salcete and Sattari talukas.
Following The Goan report stating that the Mapusa sub-registrar had written to the State Registrar about suspicious or misplaced property records from his jurisdiction and frauds taking place using these misplaced documents and records, a number of original owners of lands from Tiswadi, Salcete and Sattari have also claimed to be victims of such land scams.
Some of the aggrieved landowners have approached the courts after claiming that the sub-registrar offices had failed to take cognisance of their complaints.
In one such case, an owner claimed that 1,000 sq mtrs of land in Maula area of Tiswadi taluka had been sold using fake documents.
“When construction started on my land, only then did I come to know that my land had been illegally sold to one builder many years ago,” said the landowner, who has been fighting a legal battle to get back his land.
“Some fake documents had been prepared regarding my land and my original documents records from sub-registrar’s office have been destroyed,” said the landowner, while providing all his land documents to prove his claim.
He said many lawyers had left his case over the years and he had to hire other lawyers since many high-profile persons are involved in the land deal.
According to sources, there are 2-3 similar cases in Tiswadi taluka alone.
One FIR has been filed in Sattari regarding bogus documentation using a similar modus operandi and there are reports of similar land scams in Salcete as well. The cases are still under investigation.
“Land brokers or agents who have links with sub-registrar’s office keep an eye on unused lands lying idle for many years. They then prepare fake documents and sell these lands,” explained a lawyer from Panaji.
While State Registrar Ashutosh Apte has assured a thorough inquiry after admitting there are many complaints about mischief with government documents, doubts are being raised on whether the state registrar’s office will be in a position to investigate and take action on these irregularities.
“The scams are so systematically done that after so many years it will be difficult to prove which documents are original which are fake,” said a source from the sub-registrar’s office.
