Rajkot Fraud: Man Fakes Landowner Identity To Seal Rs 30 Crore Land Deal

Rajkot: In a significant case of identity theft, a man impersonated a landowner and deceived a buyer into finalizing a Rs 30 crore land deal in Rajkot, Gujarat . Believing the deal to be genuine, the buyer paid the impersonator Rs 1.90 crore as a token deposit for the land.

The victim, Bhupat Thummar, later discovered that the person he had paid was not the actual landowner. According to the police complaint, an unidentified individual had posed as Ghusa Sitapara, the true owner of the land.

Real Estate Agent Takes Buyer To Impersonator

The police further stated that Manish Detroja, a real estate agent, approached Thummar with details about a land parcel located near the newly developed Atal Sarovar.

The real estate agent later introduced Thummar to a man claiming to be Ghusa Sitapara, the actual landowner. After negotiations, the land deal was finalized at Rs 6 crore per acre, totaling Rs 30 crore. It was agreed that Thummar would pay a token amount of Rs 1.90 crore to sign a Satta Khat, with the remaining balance to be paid over 18 months, at which point the ownership would be transferred.

Friend Reveals Picture of Seller Used In Land Purchase Papers Is Fake

The accused used forged Aadhar and PAN cards bearing the landowner's name but with his own photo and address, effectively stealing the identity of the real owner. Thummar continued to make payments in installments.

Months later, Thummar mentioned to a friend that he had purchased land near Atal Sarovar. The friend was surprised and informed Thummar that Sitapara had not been interested in selling the land for a long time. When Thummar showed his friend the purchase documents, the friend was shocked to see the photo and realized that the man he had dealt with was not the actual landowner.

"I went to meet the original Ghusa Sitapara and found out that I had been cheated. Despite confronting the accused who promised to return my money, I did not get it back, so I lodged a police complaint,” the victim in his police complaint said. 

A case has been registered and further investigation is underway in the matter, officials said.