AHMEDABAD: In an alarming instance of swindlers stalking citizens’ assets online to deliver a cheating body blow, a couple in Manekbaug, Manish Shah and his wife Dr Suchi Shah, almost had their land at Chekhla village in Sanand taluka sold off without their knowledge. In fact, a buyer even paid Rs 10 lakh as a token towards the agreement for the land sale into the account of Suchi Manish Shah which was removed by the fraudsters the day it was credited.
The fraud would have gone unnoticed had the couple in Manekbaug not received a cheque book and a passbook for an account opened in the name of Suchi Manish Shah at the Hansalpur branch of ADC Bank in Ahmedabad district.
Alarmed that something was amiss, Manish Shah visited the bank branch and raised the issue with the manager. It was found that one Suchi Shah herself had come to open the bank account and had submitted Aadhaar and PAN card details for the purpose. On examining the documents, Manish Shah confirmed that while the ID card details matched his wife’s, the picture on the documents was of someone else.
The bank manager, Hitesh Jadav, filed a complaint with Viramgam police on Wednesday, for forgery of documents submitted to open an account.
Assistant superintendent of police, Ahmedabad rural, Lavina Sinha, said that five persons — including a woman —have been arrested in this case.
PSI V A Shaikh of Viramgam rural police said their investigation revealed a larger plot to sell four bighas of land owned by the Shah couple for Rs 4 crore. The land records available online had caught the eye of one of the fraudsters, Manish Shah from Sanand, who conspired to sell off the land by posing as the owner, she said.
The accused, Manish Ramanlal Shah, posed as the owner and roped in Pooja Kabira to pose as his wife Suchi. They duped one Yuvraj Vaghela of Sanand who gave a cheque of Rs 10 lakh as advance for the plot. Kabira then posed as Suchi Manish Shah and opened the account on August 7.
Shaikh said one accused is still on the run and the others have been booked for forgery.
