Srinagar, Oct 29 (NVI): The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Kashmir Police has filed a chargesheet against five people in a case involving the alleged fraudulent sale of property of a displaced Kashmiri Pandit in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, officials said on Thursday.
The chargesheet was filed before the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Sopore, in connection with FIR No. 34/2017 registered under Sections 420, 419, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), they said.
According to the EOW, the case was registered following a written complaint alleging the fraudulent sale of land measuring 14 kanals and three marlas, bearing Survey No. 349 at Mouza Wussan in Goshbugh in Pattan.
The property was owned by Jawahar Lal Bhat.
The investigation allegedly revealed a conspiracy involving impersonation, forgery of identity documents and the misuse of a purported Power of Attorney to facilitate the transaction, officials said.
The five accused are Brij Nath, Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din Dar, Ghulam Mohammad Sheikh, Zahoor Ahmed Dar, and Reyaz Ahmad Rather.
They allegedly sold the said piece of land of Jawahar Lal Bhat through impersonation and forging documents.
The complainant allegedly paid more than Rs 1 crore for the land, but possession was neither handed over nor was the amount refunded, officials said.
The EOW spokesperson said Brij Nath, also known by the names Soom Nath, Hadi Nath and Mohan Lal, and Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din Dar were arrested in late September. Dar was subsequently granted bail, while Brij Nath remains lodged in Central Jail.
Other cases involving the two accused are also under investigation, the spokesperson said.
The latest chargesheet is the second filed against the two accused, the spokesperson said.
The EOW had earlier filed a chargesheet in August 2023 in another case, FIR No. 27/2021, against Brij Nath Bhat, a resident of Indira Nagar, Srinagar, and Ghulam Mohammad Sheikh, a resident of Budgam.
The Senior Superintendent of Police, EOW Kashmir, has advised the public to verify land ownership records and related documents thoroughly before entering into property transactions to avoid fraud and financial losses, officials added.—(NVI)
