16-yr-old serial land fraud: SRO officials in trouble
The preliminary probe found that there were a series of deals over the property, including three forgeries and two loans together amounting to nearly Rs 14 crore.
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CHENNAI: The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) is investigating a case involving a retired sub-registrar and a former temporary sub-registrar who allegedly conspired with fraudsters to usurp two acres of land worth several crores belonging to a woman and her four daughters.
The preliminary probe found that there were a series of deals over the property, including three forgeries and two loans together amounting to nearly Rs 14 crore.
The first accused, NM Haya Perumal, held the position of sub-registrar at the Saidapet Sub-Registrar Office, while the second accused, J Ananthi, formerly worked as a temporary sub-registrar at the same office. Ananthi is currently serving as a District Registrar and lecturer at the Registration Training Institute in Teynampet.
The land in question, measuring 2.03 acres, was purchased in Tiruvanmiyur (now Valmiki Nagar) in 1960 by Lalitha Bhandari and her four daughters – Sumithra, Saraswathi, Vimala, and Geetha – from Jamuna and Panchanatha Chetty.
In 2007, individuals named IR Vimal Raj and R Vijay Kumar falsely claimed to be the legal heirs of Lalitha Bhandari and her daughters. They executed a fraudulent sale deed for the property in favour of GVN Mohanraju, which was registered by Haya Perumal.
In March 2007, Mohanraju used the property as collateral and obtained a loan of Rs 13.2 crore by executing a mortgage deed in favour of Future Metals Private Ltd, represented by its chairman Naveen Srinivasan. This mortgage deed was also registered by Haya Perumal.
Later, in November 2009, an individual named V Parthasarathy, who had obtained a forged power of attorney, fraudulently mortgaged the property to GK Chenthil Kannan and obtained a loan of Rs 50 lakh. This deed was registered by the then temporary sub-registrar, J Ananthi.
Furthermore, in December 2010, an individual impersonating Chenthil Kannan executed a fraudulent receipt deed for the property in favour of a person named Vimal. Ananthi registered this receipt, too.
The matter came to light after the Registration Department found during an inquiry that except the initial purchase by Lalitha Bhandari and her daughters, all other deeds were forged. The case was handed over to DVAC for further probe. The investigation revealed that the two accused officials did not scrutinise the documents presented before them for registration and have not checked the documents with the official documents in their custody and the database in the computer before releasing the documents presented for registration to obtain the pecuniary advantage.