Bhubaneswar, May 13: Officials of the crime branch's economic offences wing today arrested two brothers on charges of usurping government land of 17 acres at Bidyadharpur revenue village in Cuttack district.
The market value of the land is estimated to be around Rs 80 crore.
Police said the accused, identified as Saiprasad Das, 47, and Sairam Das, 56, both resident of Manikaghos Bazar in the Purighat police limits, had claimed the government land on the basis of forged hata patta (record of rights) and rent receipts.
The accused had approached the concerned tehsildar and other revenue officials for transfer of the property to their names. They had even moved court, seeking possession of the land. After verification, the Baranga tehsildar lodged a complaint with the wing in January last year.
"Investigations revealed that the documents had been forged. Land was sought to be taken away on basis of the fraudulent documents. The investigation is still on, and we are also trying to nab the other accused involved in the case," said the wing's superintendent of police R. Pattnaik.
The police said the accused had prepared the false patta around 15 years ago after land prices at the revenue village had gone up. "Once they succeeded in preparing the forged documents, they approached the concerned tehsiladar for possession of the land," said a police official.
The accused were arrested under sections 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code. "We are also investigating to ascertain the involvement of revenue officials in the scam," said a wing official.
In July last year, the wing had arrested a 65-year-old man in a similar case. The accused, Chandradhaja Sahoo, was arrested on the basis of a complaint registered by the Bhubaneswar tehsildar. In Sahoo's case, the land lease was granted in his favour on April 24, 1979 through forged documents and Sahoo had got the patta in connivance with the tehsil office employees.
