MP: Construction Co Faces Cheating Cases For Selling Off Land To Multiple People

BHOPAL (Madhya Pradesh): The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has registered a case against directors of a construction company for cheating the land owner and plot holders by misusing the power of attorney. The role of officials of the department of revenue and town and country planning is also under lens, said officials here on Friday.

DSP Pankaj Gautam told Free Press that FIR has been registered against Sonika Estate and Construction Company (SEAC) directors including the then MD Ajay Kumar Dubey and wife Sonika Dubey. Ajay Dubey has passed away, his wife has been booked as he was a director then, said the official. After the investigations more names will be added to the FIR, he said.

Sharing the details of the fraud committed, the DSP said that the company directors had entered into an agreement with an agriculture land seller Shankar Lal Joshi in 2007. The land was situated in Palkhedi in Indore district.

A power of attorney of 11.24 acres of land was prepared in the name of SEAC directors. The directors applied for the diversion of the land for the residential purpose in the office town and country planning. In between, the directors sold off 2 acres to four individuals. Following the diversion, the directors did the plotting of the entire land, including the 2 acres they had already sold - and put it on sale. The company allegedly resold the plots to more than one person. Jawahar Jain, the consultant of the company, had approached the EOW complaining about the anomalies.

The company directors had promised Jain 6 acres if he crossed the company's turnover to Rs 120 crore, which he claimed he did but never received the land in return. He also claimed that he paid an amount to the company for land in Sehore but he never got the land in his name.

DSP further said that the role of the officials of the revenue department and that of town and country is suspicious. All the legal permissions regarding the land were taken from the department again and again, and the departments gave permissions overlapping the previous orders, all this is being probed, said the official.