CB-CID arrests DIG of Registration in forgery case 

Probe revealed that a fake sale deed was brought on record as the genuine parent document of a prime property 

The Crime Branch CID of the Tamil Nadu police on Wednesday arrested a Deputy Inspector-General of Registration in connection with a forgery case where a fake sale deed was brought on record as parent document facilitating an accused person to usurp a prime property in Tambaram.

According to official sources, the case arises out of a complaint lodged by Kalaivani who first submitted a petition to the Central Crime Branch on April 13, 2021, that some officials of the Registration Department had create fake documents by colluding with one Suresh who had trespassed and taken possession of her land.

Not satisfied with the progress made in the case, she moved the Madras High Court seeking transfer of investigation to a different agency. On February 28, 2022, the court transferred the case to the CBCID. A special team of the agency’s Organised Crime Unit was formed to investigate the allegations.

During the course of investigation it has was ascertained that the accused had created a forged sale deed as if the disputed land belonging to the complainant measuring about 29 cents was sold by her grandfather to his mother. However, no such document existed in the file of the Sub Registrar office, Tambaram. In connivance with some Registration department officials, he managed to insert the fake sale deed into the volume book. The accused officials also made corrections in Index registers so as to create encumbrances over the property in favour of Mr. Suresh.

The usual practice is that documents executed in every Sub Registrar office is maintained in a register or volume and details of the document like name of the seller/buyer, extent of land, Survey Number and other details are entered in Index Registers. The then Junior Assistant Sabarish and Assistant Sub-Registrar Latha uploaded the fake document with a clear intent to defraud the complainant and facilitating the accused to raise claim over the property.

The entire proposal of index correction was initiated with the login credentials of the then Assistant Manimozhian and forwarded to the District Registrar, South Chennai, being the final approving authority for such corrections.

After a detailed investigation, the CBCID arrested Mr. Suresh, and the then registration department officials Ms. Latha, Mr. Sabarish and Mr. Manimozhiyan in March this year.

On Wednesday, DIG of Registration Mr. Ravindranath was arrested in front of the combined Registration Office in Salem. He was produced in a jurisdiction court and remanded in judicial custody, the sources added.

Published - September 27, 2024 12:50 am IST