Defrauded of his land, octogenarian running from pillar to post to get justice

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Defrauded of his land, octogenarian running from pillar to post to get justice

S.M.A.KAZMI

Dehradun , Oct 17

In the series of land frauds coming out in Dehradun where organised land mafias defrauded unsuspected citizens of their property by manipulating land records and other illegal deeds, another case of fraud has come to light in which an octogenarian  has not been defrauded, deprived of his legal land allegedly by a police official but also pressurised through police to part with his property and reconcile.

Land fraud cases galore in the capital city of Deharun where land mafia, revenue officials , lawyers and police officials had defrauded scores of people mostly elderly by fraudently changing the land records. After a hue and cry, a Special Investigating Team (SIT) was formed which had already arrested more than 20 persons including three lawyers allegedly involved in such illegal deeds. However, most of the revenue and police officials who are also involved in such deals are not yet touched in these cases.

Mohan Lal Bhatia, (80) a resident of Rajendra Nagar, Dehradun  has been running from pillar to post in his quest for justice for the past three years but to no avail.  Despite bearing pressure from police through various means, Mohan Lal Bhatia was able to prove his case in various competent authorities, forcing Uttarakhand police to register a case in his matter. But to his utter dismay and surprise, the Dehradun police did register the case but omitted the name of the police officer allegedly guilty of land fraud and harassment. Instead, the wife of the  police official who was shown as the owner of the said land has been charged in the First Information Report(FIR) filed by the Dehradun police on October 1, 2023 easing out the main accused.

“ I had been fighting out this court despite lot of harassment and pressure from the police department but it did not deter me from getting justice. After running from pillar to post and establishing my case with immaculate proofs and documents, I was able to convince the officials to file a case against the accused but I am heart-broken at the complicity of the Patel Nagar police station in an attempt to save their own colleague in the department,” alleged Mohan Lal Bhatia.

Recalling his harrowing experience, he said that he had bought a piece of land measuring 206 square meters at Majra registered at registration no.9330/ 22-07-1991 and also got a map sanctioned from Mussoorie- Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) in 2004 for building a house on the said plot. However, due to various personal reasons, he was not able to construct the house on the said property. Mohan Lal Bhatia found out in July 2020 that a police inspector namely Bharat Singh and his wife Bhavna Singh are constructing a house on his plot. He found that the police inspector in alleged connivance with one Rajesh Sharma and his wife Preeti Sharma had manipulated their sale deed including the property of Mohan Lal Bhatia in their plot. Protests by M.L. Bhatia were met with threats by the police official.

Mohan Lal Bhatia went with his petition narrating his ordeal to Ashok Kumar then ADG ( incharge of law and order),presently DGP of Uttarakhand  on October 17, 2020, to Shweta Chaubey, SP on October 19,2020 and then to Dehradun SSP Arun Mohan Joshi on November 5, 2020 but did not got any positive response from even these senior officials. Disappointed with the attitude of the senior police officials, M.L. Bhatia went to the court of Commissioner/ President, Land Fraud Coordination Committee, Garhwal and with proofs which ruled in its’ order on August 13,2021 that it was a clear case of fraud and case be registered by the police in the matter.

Unable to get the case registered, Bhatia wrote on the Chief Minister’s portal on August 27, 2021 seeking registration of FIR against the alleged culprits. In response, he was called by Bindal police post, where he was told that his case was not in their jurisdiction and he need to approach the CM portal again. On his further complaint on CM’s Portal on September 21, 2021, he was summoned by ISBT police post and Patel Nagar police station, where he went upteem times  but none listened to him since the case involved a police official.

To further pressurise Mohan Lal Bhatia, false and frivolous complaints were filed in Patel Nagar police station on October 17, 2020 and then again in the office of DIG on June 7, 2022. He was summoned by the office of DIG on June 8, 2022 where his statements were recorded. He was also summoned by Cyber crime cell where pressure was put on him to forget the plot in favour of Bhavna Singh, wife of  Bharat Singh, police inspector.

Finally, after running from top officials to police post incharge, unable to get any justice from Uttarakhand police, Mohan Lal Bhatia went in appeal to Uttarakhand Police Complaints Authority which ordered an inquiry into the case. On the inquiry report by SP, Sadar, Dehradun a case under sections 420/447/467/471 and 120-B, FIR no. 561/2023 was registered at Patel Nagar police station. But to the utter surprise and disappointment of octogenarian citizen, the name of Bharat Singh, who was the allegedly main culprit in the whole case was ommitted from the FIR. More interestingly, the case has been referred to a police sub inspector while the case involved a police inspector.

Mohan Lal Bhatia who is sick and admitted in a hospital said that keeping in view all these developments over the years and attempts by the Uttarakhand police department to save its’ own official, he has little hope of getting any justice.