Man held for selling government land

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Avadi City Police arrested a man for allegedly selling government land through fraudulent means and falsely claiming ownership.

Two decades ago, M. Mahadevan, 70, of Kattupakkam, was looking to buy a piece of land when S. Jayaraj, 72, was introduced to him. Jayaraj showed him a vacant plot in Ganapathy Nagar, claiming it belonged to him and that the patta was in his name. He also said the plot had CMDA approval. He went on to execute a registration and sale deed in favour of Mahadevan at the Kundrathur sub-registrar office in 2006, for 1,200 square feet of land, clearly mentioning the plot number. Two individuals signed as witnesses. Subsequently, Mahadevan raised a bank loan and built a house on the plot.

Police said it was only later that Mahadevan realised he had been cheated — the land was Boomi Thana land, which belonged to the government, and had been registered using forged documents.

Based on Mahadevan’s complaint, police arrested Jayaraj of Valasaravakkam and remanded him to judicial custody.