Ganjam: Police have unearthed a bizarre case of land fraud in which a deceased man was shown as alive and his land sold using forged documents. Three people have been arrested and produced in court following preliminary investigations.
The arrested are: Manoj Kumar Gouda, 30, of Kumarbegpalli in Chhatrapur; Dillip Mali, 51, of Kalajamuna; and Dandapani Behera, 78, of Nimakhanda Bandha Sahi in Berhampur. Police seized fake Aadhaar cards and bank passbooks from them.
According to police, one of the arrested posed as the fake landowner while the other two acted as brokers. Sub-inspector Aniruddha Swain said the accused fraudulently sold the land belonging to a deceased man by passing him off as alive. Records showed that real Dandapani Behera, a resident of Haladia Padar, had died in 2004. He owned 2.642 acre land under Malada panchayat.
Also Read: Brothers held in Rs 1.14cr land fraud
Since most of his family members lived outside the state permanently, the land was left neglected. Taking advantage, the accused conspired to forge ownership documents and sell the property. The fraud came to the fore when Dandapani’s son, Manas Behera, discovered discrepancies while verifying rent receipts for land mutation. He lodged a written complaint at Ganjam police station August 20.
A case (270/2025) was registered, and an investigation started under the supervision of station in-charge Shradhanjali Subudhi. Police said in 2024 the accused used a forged Aadhaar card to impersonate the deceased Dandapani, showing him as a 78-year-old, and sold the land to a local man D Bikash.
The registration was completed at Ganjam sub-registrar’s office September 1, 2024. The land, valued at far higher, was sold cheaply.
The total deal was worth Rs 15 lakh, of which Rs 1.5 lakh was shown as paid to the fake Dandapani, while Rs 13.5 lakh was shared between the two brokers. The accused have confessed to the fraud, police said. Officials added that further investigation is on and more arrests are likely.
PNN
