Activist complained about Koregaon Park land deal as early as June

Kotkar shared a copy of the complaint filed on June 5 this year, carrying a received stamp of the JDR office clerk. Speaking to The Indian Express, he said, “I am into social work and frequently get such kinds of papers. I got the Index II (document generated by the Sub-Registrar Office summarizing the registration of property-related documents) of the Koregaon Park land, and being in the business of real estate, I realised that a deal of Rs 300 crore should have a stamp duty of Rs 21 crore. But only Rs 500 stamp duty has been paid. I already knew that survey number 88 is Mahar Watan land.”

“I had actually been approached for some work regarding addition of names of the original owners to the land two years ago, but could not do it. I was already aware of the nature of the land,” said Kotkar.

The activist said he was not aware that Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s son Parth was linked with the land deal as the document does not contain his name. The transaction took place between Sheetal Tejwani, who holds the power of attorney on behalf of the 272 original owners of the Mahar Watan land, and Digvijay Amarsinh Patil, director of Amadea Enterprises LLP. Parth Pawar is also the director of this firm.

Kotkar says he got the document around May 25, a few days after the document was made, and he filed a complaint at the JDR office on June 5. “I even wrote a reminder letter when I got no response on the complaint. Some time later, a man claiming to be Parth Pawar’s assistant accosted me and threatened me to withdraw the complaint and not get involved in the matter,” he said.

Kotkar said he has filed 10-15 complaints regarding land matters to the registration office but only one has resulted in an investigation and payment of the duty. “I have not been informed about action taken on any other complaint I have filed so far,” he said.

Over the past two days, FIRs have been filed against Tejwani, Patil, and government officials who facilitated the Koregaon Park land deal. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that the deal now stands cancelled.