New Delhi: Ram Chandra (name changed) lived out his final years in quiet solitude. The passing of his wife, his partner of over five decades, in 2019 had left a void in the 80-year-old’s life. With no children to care for him, Chandra had grown accustomed to the stillness of his home, a cosy apartment in Dwarka’s Sector 6.
The loneliness had perhaps led to a small, yet significant, habit for Chandra — sleeping with his doors open. He wanted his neighbours to know that they were welcome to check on him, to ensure his safety and well-being. It was a gesture of trust and community, a reminder that even in old age one was not alone.
Chandra’s open door became a symbol of his connection with the community. Last Oct, Chandra’s life came to a peaceful end. A neighbour who peeked through the open door found him lifeless. Even after the last rites, the open door story and the sudden passing of the octogenarian left behind a mystery about the apartment’s ownership and inheritance.
Within no time, local land grabbers allegedly began to circle the apartment. Sensing an opportunity, the group hatched a sinister plot. In the months that followed, the apartment’s ownership mysteriously changed and it was sold to an unsuspecting buyer. Police were subsequently alerted by the relatives. The cops filed a case and embarked on a perilous journey to unravel the truth, navigating a labyrinth of forged documents, secret meetings and clandestine deals.
The investigation led police to a murder accused-turned property dealer as the mastermind of the sale. Police arrested the man, the septuagenarian woman in whose name the property’s ownership had been fraudulently transferred before the sale and her son.
According to police, they were alerted about the dubious sale of the apartment a few months after the octogenarian’s death. “A complaint was received at Dwarka South police station alleging that some unknown land grabbers had occupied the property in Badhwar Apartments, Sector 6, Dwarka, after the property papers were forged,” revealed DCP (Dwarka) Ankit Kumar Singh.
A case for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy was registered and a probe initiated. A team comprising ACP ML Meena and inspectors Sanjeev Mandal and Ramesh Chand was formed. Information about the culprits was gathered through local informers, and technical surveillance was used to identify one of the accused individuals who received huge amounts from the proceeds of the sale done using forged documents.
“Our investigation revealed that the mastermind, identified as Pawandeep alias Prince, forged documents in the name of a 70-year-old woman and sold the property to one Sunny Yadav. The woman’s son, Sarabjeet, was also involved in the crime,” the DCP said.
Raids were conducted at different places and Sarabjeet and Pawandeep were the first to be arrested. The woman absconded and was declared a proclaimed offender by the court. She was eventually tracked down and arrested last week, police said.
During interrogation, the woman disclosed that Pawandeep had allegedly tempted her with a large sum of money to forge the documents in her name. Pawandeep admitted that he had also been arrested previously in a case of murder. “While in jail, fellow inmates told him that he could make a lot of money by forging property documents related to empty plots and flats and selling them. He has been doing this since then. We have recovered the forged documents and other incriminating evidence from the accused,” DCP Singh said. The arrested individuals have been sent to judicial custody.
