Agent in ₹135 crore land sale con held

Mumbai:

A real estate agent, Mohammed Aslam Karim


(45), was arrested at the city airport for allegedly duping a Bengaluru-based company by of Rs 135 crore by trying to sell a plot of land in Bengaluru by handing over forged documents. It turns out that the land on offer belongs to the government. Karim was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police while he was about to fly to Dubai. A lookout notice had been issued against him by the Mumbai police, said sources.

the dealing took place in Mumbai. The company, Greenfield, had lodged a complaint alleging that in 2009 Karim and two others—A N Srinivas swamy and K Munniraj Kempanna—had approached Hardeep Sahani of Greenfield to sell the plot. The company had given a power of attorney to its official VenkateshRao Mutta, said officials from EOW’shousing unit.

“It is alleged that the accused sold the land for Rs 135 crore, but did not register it. It later emerged that the plot belongs to the government and was classified as a ‘green zone’.” said an officer.

The company wanted to develop the plot into a township and even got into a development agreement with ‘Employees’ Welfare Fund, Hindustan Aeronautics Bangalore’. However, when its officials later learnt that the property was a ‘reserved’ plot. The company officials then lodged a private complaint at the Andheri metropolitan magistrate’s court. A police probe revealed Mutta’s involvement and he was arrested in 2013.