Land acquired for Vadodara-Mumbai highway project: 2 held for fraudulently claiming government reward worth Rs 86 lakh

The land owner is in Canada. As per the details revealed by officials, Bharat Patel, a resident of Sarpor village in Navsari who had taken the land on rent for farming, on Thursday lodged a complaint against Shirish Ahir (35), and Dipak Patel (40) (both residents of Navsari); Sandeep Patel (35) (a resident of Kaprada taluka in Valsad); and two other people who are both residents of Navsari) with the Navsari Rural Police Station.

In his complaint, Bharat Patel alleged that Dipak Patel, a real estate agent, came to know that agricultural land spanning 2,265 square meters at Sarpor village, owned by Ishwar Patel presently living in Canada with his family members and late Gopal Patel, his brother, was acquired by the government officials for the highway project.

The government reward, which is given during the time of such acquisitions beyond the price of the agricultural land as per the Supreme Court guidelines, had not been yet claimed in this case and Dipak Patel got to know about this.

Dipak Patel allegedly plotted to claim the reward, involved his friends Shirish Ahir and Sandeep Patel; and took out details of Ishwar patel and Gopal Patel, officials were told.

The accused forged documents like Aadhaar card, bank account details, driving license, Pan card, election card of both these people. They then arranged two persons — to impersonate Ishwar Patel and Gopal Patel— and presented them before the land acquisition officer and took claim September 30, 2023.

The officials disbursed land reward to the tune of Rs. 86.12 lakh and deposited in the bank accounts of both the impersonators.
Dipak Patel, along with other accused, then withdrew the amount, said Navsari Rural Police.

The incident came into light when Bharat Patel, who is the guardian of the land, learnt that somebody had taken the claim amount. He made an RTI application with the land acquisition department office in Navsari and found the land reward amount was already withdrawn from the bank account holders.

Bharat Patel contacted Iswhar Patel and made him talk to the land acquisition officer in Navsari. Bharat Patel also told government officers that Gopal Patel died on March 13, 1984.

Acting on the complaint police had on Friday arrested Dipak Patel and Shishir Ahir, while others had gone underground.

Navsari police inspector P B Pateliya said, “The complainant had taken the land of Ishwar Patel and his brother Gopal Patel for farming on rent and holds power of attorney. Dipak Patel and others made fake documents and presented two persons who they identified as Ishwar patel and Gopal Patel before the land acquisition officer and got the land reward amount. We have arrested two accused while three others are absconding and they will also be arrested soon. We will also identify others involved in this racket and grill them. The accused had cheated the government to the tune of Rs. 86.12 lakh and distributed among themselves.”

Police have booked the accused under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 465 (forgery), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (Using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 120 (b) (Criminal Conspiracy), 114 (Abettor present when the offense is committed).