The Crime Branch on Wednesday claimed to have busted a gang of cheats who, allegedly in connivance with DDA employees, duped people by selling them plots belonging to the DDA.

Police said the modus operandi adopted by the gang appears to have been inspired by the popular Bollywood film Khosla ka Ghosla.

On Monday, the police had arrested four persons involved in the racket. However, the kingpin and two DDA employees allegedly involved in the racket were absconding. Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav said they had received a complaint from a Mukherjee Nagar resident about some persons, who he alleged had cheated him by allotting him a plot at the DDA office. The victim had made the payment at the DDA office in ITO.

“We verified the documents submitted by the complainant and found that the papers he had been given by the men were forged. The allotment papers of the DDA plot and other papers given to him were not registered by the development authority. In the meantime, we received complaints from three more people, who said they had been cheated similarly,” Yadav said.

Following the registration of a case by the Crime Branch, the police arrested four persons, Naveen Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Shailender Bhatia and Padam Singh. Their interrogation revealed that the gang was headed by one Prem Shankar Sharma.

Police said Sharma was a Class IV employee of DDA but had been dismissed and later became a union president. Sharma’s interrogation later led to the arrest of two DDA employees, Suresh Chand and Harish Chand.

Explaining the modus operandi, the police said Sharma lured his victims to buy plots in Paschim Vihar at official rates under the Nazrul Act. The accused asked their victims to pay a large amount as commission by claiming that the overall rate of the plot was very less under the Nazrul Act. “They used to siphon off DDA stationery with the help of Suresh and Harish. They would fill false details for the plots. Prem Shankar would project himself as an Assistant Director in DDA in charge of allotment of plots. They would dispatch the forged documents from office and the victim used to get most of the documents by post,” a police officer said.

Accused Shailender Bhatia, who posed as a Junior Engineer with DDA, visited the spot along with the victims and gave them possession of the plots in the presence of hundreds of people. Kingpin Sharma was working as a pump operator in DDA. He was suspended in 1998 and dismissed in 2012. He was familiar with the working of the DDA and used his contacts to run the racket.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/police-bust-gang-who-sold-dda-plots-using-fake-papers/1168105/0