MUMBAI: A special investigation team (SIT) formed following a Bombay high court order has said it has unearthed a land scam involving large-scale tampering of property records to convert Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and No Development Zone (NDZ) lands into developable plots along the Mumbai coastline. Four people including two former govt employees were arrested last week for the scam linked to at least 102 property maps along the coast. In all, 18 govt staff from BMC and land records section have been summoned for questioning.
The scam allegedly involves estate agents, govt staff and contractors who altered land records in Marve, Madh Island, Versova and other ecologically sensitive spots. The manipulation was first flagged by a farmer from Erangal in Malad, Vaibhav Thakur, who owns ancestral farm land. He had an FIR registered at Goregaon police station in 2021 against illegal constructions on his plot and adjoining lands. Thakur found that govt records had been forged to classify CRZ and NDZ plots as developable zones. However, authorities including BMC and Goregaon police failed to make much headway.
Subsequently, deputy superintendent of land records Nitin Salunkhe lodged another FIR in 2021. He said maps and documents were forged between 2012 and 2020 to regularise illegal constructions in eco-sensitive zones. The matter resonated in the assembly in 2022 and prompted govt to set up an inquiry committee. The committee’s findings were presented in HC when the original complainant, Thakur, filed a plea alleging inaction despite govt findings.
The SIT set up on HC’s order in Oct 2024 was tasked with probing four FIRs in all. Led by joint commissioner of police (crime) Lakhmi Gautam, it has made four arrests. According to the SIT, the four accused in connivance with govt staff manipulated 102 property maps and records over the years by adding false details, such as fabricated City Survey numbers, non-existent constructions, and altered boundaries. Forged maps were distributed under the guise of filing RTI requests. BMC officials allegedly approved the constructions and sale based on these fraudulent documents, leading to significant ecological damage and revenue loss to the govt.
Investigators found that of 884 permanent enumeration maps dating back to 1955-1984 and housed in the deputy superintendent’s office, 102 were fraudulent, showing constructions that did not exist before 1964. Maharashtra govt, following the SIT’s findings, has ordered the principal secretary of Urban Development and Director of Land Records in Pune to take action against those responsible for manipulating public records. The SIT has seized all 884 original maps and their digital copies from the Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre in Nagpur. Further investigations will focus on identifying additional suspects and verifying the authenticity of all documents.
Last Thursday, the SIT arrested contractor Narshim Puttawallu (50), who is an accused in all four FIRs, along with two retired officers from the City Survey Office identified as Devdas Jadhav and Marade, and real estate agent Imam Shaikh. They were booked for forging records in connivance with officers from BMC and the Land Records Department. “Illegal construction on CRZ and NDZ lands have severely impacted ecological balance and caused huge revenue loss. A total of 18 officials from BMC and Land Records Department have been summoned for questioning but due to the election process investigations were delayed,” said a senior police official.
