Kashmir Land Fraud: Tehsildar, Broker Arrested in Multi-Crore Racket

An organised land racket allegedly operating with the connivance of revenue officials has been unearthed in Kashmir, with a Crime Branch investigation revealing that properties were sold repeatedly to different buyers after land records were manipulated.

A Tehsildar and a property broker are at the centre of the scam, according to a senior Crime Branch official. The two were arrested last year in connection with the fraud and are currently out on bail.

The racket's method, investigators found, was to cancel a mutation and then allow a broker to obtain a fresh land extract, enabling the same plot to be sold again to new buyers. The process was repeated, with the property changing hands multiple times without the rightful owner's knowledge or consent.

One case that came to light involves Mufti Manzoor, a retired government official living in Australia, who has been fighting for possession of his half-acre plot in Balhama, on the outskirts of Srinagar, for about a decade. The land is valued at over Rs 3 crore.

Manzoor said the revenue officer who signed the mutation in his name cancelled it less than a month later in connivance with the broker, manipulating mutations, falsifying title deeds and altering land records. He discovered the fraud in 2017 when he found the plot fenced off and a house under construction, despite his never having sold the property.

He approached senior officers, including Srinagar District Collector Syed Abid Rashid Shah, who ordered a probe. It took years to establish that the Tehsildar had manipulated records with the broker, Manzoor said, adding that during the process he found dozens of others who had been duped by the organised racket.

Following the investigations and a Revenue Department probe, the Revenue Secretary revoked the fraudulent mutation and restored Manzoor's ownership. However, he is still unable to regain possession, as officials say it is now a civil matter that only a court can resolve.

Investigators found that in Manzoor's case, the accused revenue official cancelled the mutation and allowed the broker to obtain a fresh land extract and sell the property again. One Kanal of the half-acre plot was also transferred to the accused revenue officer, the probe revealed. While she claimed she had purchased the land from the broker, investigators said the manipulation and alteration of records pointed to a clear case of quid pro quo.

The Crime Branch officer who supervised the probe said the accused Tehsildar was in custody for 15 days and a chargesheet has been filed. Four cases have been registered against the broker for allegedly manipulating land records and selling the same land to multiple buyers in connivance with revenue officials.

No departmental action has been taken against the accused Tehsildar so far, despite her arrest and the filing of the chargesheet, the officer added.