DEHRADUN: Four years ago, when Harikrishna Budhlakoti (now 67) of Kumola village in Nainital district applied for a loan by mortgaging his three nali (1 nali = 200.67 sqm) ancestral land located in Pangot, he was told that it belonged to a forest officer, not him.
He later found that some land mafia had fraudulently got his death certificate issued, allegedly in connivance with authorities concerned, and then transferred the land rights to some co-sharers (whose names were also included fraudulently) who later sold it. Since 2018, Budhlakoti has been running from pillar to post to prove that he is alive and wants his ancestral land back.
Finally, when Kumaon divisional commissioner Deepak Rawat attended a public hearing in Haldwani on Saturday, Budhlakoti approached him, following which a departmental enquiry was ordered in the matter.
Death certificate was issued fraudulently: Kumaon commissioner
The death certificate (TOI has a copy of it) mentions that he died in 1980, and it was issued on March 20, 2010, by Budhlakot gram panchayat office. Even if he had actually died, the land would have gone to his immediate family, not co-sharers. Narrating his ordeal, Budhlakoti said, "Before approaching commissioner Rawat, I got a case registered at Kushya Kutoli tehsil office, under which my property falls, two years back, but nothing has been done in the matter. In 2018, I registered a police case against the fake co-sharers. Two of the accused were arrested and the case has remained sub-judice so far.
"The certificate mentions that I died in Budhlakot village on May 15, 1980. After it was issued, my property ownership rights were transferred to the fake 'co-sharers' in 2011. Three months after that, they sold the land to DFO Umesh Tiwari," he said.
Terming the matter serious, Kumaon commissioner Rawat said. "After receiving Budhlakoti's complaint, I enquired about the gram panchayat officer who issued the death certificate. There is no doubt that the certificate was issued fraudulently. I have ordered an inquiry. Police are already carrying out their own investigation. A departmental inquiry will follow soon. Strict action will be taken against those found guilty in the case." On his part, DFO Tiwari denied the allegations of fraudulently buying the property. "I had bought the property about 10 years ago from people whose names appeared as owners in the records of the revenue department," said Tiwari.
