Waqf Land Fraud: Two Persons Booked For Cheating Maharashtra Government Of Rs 7.76 Crore In Pune

Mubarak Ansari
Pune, 14th August 2021: An FIR has been registered by Pune city police against two persons for allegedly impersonating as president and secretary of a trust which owns Waqf land in Maan near Hinjewadi, and accepting Rs 7.76 crore after land acquisition for the fourth phase of Rajiv Gandhi IT Park.

Based on the complaint from Maharashtra Waqf Board’s Pune regional officer Khusro Khan, Bundgarden police station has booked Imtiaz Shaikh and Chand Mulani, both residents of Yerwada, Pune.

The incident took place between December 2020 and January 2021 at the office of the Pune District Collector.

According to the FIR, Tabut Inam Indoment Trust, which is registered with the Waqf board, owns 8 hectares 57.1 R land at Gat no. 335/1 in Maan village in Mulshi taluka of Pune district. The state government acquired 5 hectares 51 R land out of the total land for the IT Park. The government was supposed to give around Rs 9.64 Crore to the trust in return and accordingly government had released an amount of Rs 7.73 Crore.

However, the Waqf Board received a complaint from the trust that they did not receive any money from the government. During enquiry by the Deputy Collector (land acquisition), it was revealed that accused Imtiaz Shaikh and Chand Mulani had introduced themselves as the trust’s president and secretary. They had also submitted a forged document of the Waqf Board giving its consent to their appointment after which the collector office released the amount to them instead of the real trust members.

A case has been registered against the two accused for offences under sections 420,406,464,467,471 and 34 of IPC. Further investigation is underway.

“The investigation is going on. We are also looking into the role of some officials whether they are also involved in the fraud or not”, a police officer told PunekarNews.