5 years after death, ex-cop booked over destruction of evidence in land fraud case

Speaking with The Indian Express, Jalalpore police Inspector M N Ahir said, “A land cheating case was registered with Jalalpore police in 2010 following an application by a person with Navsari district court in 2006.

land fraud case, destruction of evidence, Rafiuddin Saiyed death case, Navsari district court order, indian express, indian express news

A team from Jalalpore police reached his house in Godhra on Thursday and was surprised to know that Rafiuddin died in 2018 (Express Photo)

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Nearly five years after he died, a case has been filed against a former assistant sub-inspector over the disappearance of evidence in a land fraud case reported more than a decade ago. Rafiuddin Saiyed, who died in 2018, has been booked following orders by the Navsari district court on Thursday.

Acting on the complaint, Jalalpore police found that Rafiuddin retired in 2016 from Navsari police and settled at his native place in Godhra. A team from Jalalpore police reached his house in Godhra on Thursday and was surprised to know that Rafiuddin died in 2018. The team verified the details of his death and returned.

Speaking with The Indian Express, Jalalpore police Inspector M N Ahir said, “A land cheating case was registered with Jalalpore police in 2010 following an application by a person with Navsari district court in 2006. PG Patel, the police inspector of Jalalpore police station at the time, carried out the investigation into the fraud case and arrested the accused. He also submitted the chargesheet.”

“The court had sent a list of eight documents to Jalalpore police to get the signature verification from Gandhinagar FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory) in the same case. The documents were verified by the Gandhinagar FSL office and PG Patel told Rafiuddin Saiyed to submit the documents to the court. Patel then got transferred from the police station.”

Rafiuddin, Ahir added, did not submit the documents to the court between February 2010 and July 2011. “He also got transferred.
Even after getting transferred in 2011, Rafiuddin did not mention to the new incumbent crime writer head Ramesh Dattatray about submitting the said documents to the court. Rafiuddin got retired in 2016 and shifted to his native place in Dahod,” he further said.

He added, “The land fraud case being heard for the last couple of months, and second Chief Judicial Magistrate VA Dandhal had demanded the FSL verification documents from Jalalpore police station. We searched every corner of the police station and even talked to the crime writer head. But we could not find the documents. We don’t know the whereabouts of the papers and Rafiuddin Saiyed is also no more. We will report accordingly to the court.”

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VA Dandhal, the second Chief Judicial Magistrate of Navsari district court, had directed Jalalpore police station to register an offence against the former crime writer head of the police station for not submitting the requisite documents.

Acting on the court’s order, Ramilaben Maheshbhai, assistant sub-inspector, Jalalpore police station, lodged a complaint against Rafiuddin Saiyed, under IPC Section 201 (Disappearance of evidence). The accused is responsible for destroying the documents, the FIR stated.

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