MUMBAI: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing manipulation of documents for plots in ecologically sensitive Coastal Regulation Zones (CRZ) and no development zones (NDZ) in Mumbai has found 63 more forged records. With this, the total number of forged land record maps have touched 165.
The tampering, which facilitated unauthorised construction on hundreds of properties along Mumbai suburban coastline, involves a nexus of govt officials, contractors, and estate agents, according to SIT.
SIT, formed under the direction of Bombay HC, has so far arrested five individuals, including two retired officials from Land Records Department and a contractor, Narshim Puttawallu, who has emerged as a central figure in the scam, having been named in four FIRs. Investigators suspect that officials from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Land Records Department, and City Survey Office played a pivotal role in manipulating maps.
TOI has learnt that SIT found that the forged maps facilitated illegal construction on 267 properties, with permissions issued in 32 cases under the BMC Act. Many permissions were granted by Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) and MHADA based on falsified documents.
Investigators revealed that the syndicate used forged maps to modify land classifications during 2012-2020, allowing construction in areas marked as CRZ or NDZ. The scam was allegedly orchestrated by altering entries in official City Survey maps and leveraging fabricated records to show pre-1964 structures, which are protected under CRZ regulations.
The SIT also found that 205 RTI applications were filed to create an illusion of legitimacy around the altered records. Fifteen landowners were questioned during the probe, with four admitting to seeking Puttawallu’s assistance in altering their properties’ classification. The scam came to light after a farmer from Erangal, Malad, Vaibhav Thakur, reported illegal construction on his ancestral agricultural land in 2016.
