Two men, who had allegedly forged the signature of a government official to grab a piece of land for developing in Kasba in south Kolkata, have been arrested.
Police said the complaint was lodged from the New Secretariat building office of the administrative general and official trustee of the state alleging forgery of signatures to grab a two-cottah land at RK Ghoshal Lane.
An officer of Kasba police station said two men — Sumit Ghosh and Mintu Bhanja — had approached the present occupants of a house on the land with the proposal to develop it into apartments.
At present, a family lives there as tenants.
“The tenancy was originally in the name of a woman who has passed away. After her the tenancy has been shifted to her daughter and then to her granddaughter Madhumanti Goswami. Ghosh and Bhanja had approached Goswami to give her clearance so that they could develop the property,” said the officer.
When Goswami had pointed out that she was only a tenant and that the land was actually a government property, the duo allegedly forged documents and produced a purported NOC (no objection certificate) bearing signature of the administrative general and official trustee declaring that the land was free of any kind of government entangles.
“Being suspicious, Goswami — a teacher by profession — decided to verify. She directly contacted the respective department and found that the signature on the purported NOC was forged,” said the officer.
Thereafter, the office of the administrative general and official trustee lodged a specific complaint of cheating, forgery, fraud, criminal conspiracy against Ghosh and Bhanja at Kasba police station.
Both the accused were summoned to Kasba police station on Monday evening for interrogation. After prolonged questioning when they apparently admitted their crime, they were arrested.
According to the rule, for developing any land, the developers need the clearance of the owner as well as the occupants of the property irrespective of the fact whether the occupants are owners or tenants.
The accused duo was produced before the court on Tuesday and have been remanded in police custody.
