Bihar STF busted a land-grabbing racket with members allegedly involved in forcibly taking illegal possession of lands, at Ramkrishna Nagar in the state capital and arrested seventeen people for allegedly attempting to take over two lands, police said on Monday, adding arms and ammunition was also recovered from their possession.
Explaining their modus operandi, police said the accused targeted properties owned by the elderly, fabricating ownership papers and initiating civil litigation to create a false claim of title. Of those arrested, 11 are said to be professional criminals. An FIR was registered at Ramkrishna Nagar police station based on SI Hemant Jha’s statement.
Police said some gangsters hatched a conspiracy to occupy a costly land near Bairia bus stand owned by one Sri Devi. They planned on taking over the 31 kattha land at gunpoint. On information, police conducted a raid and found one accused, Vikas Kumar, inside a vehicle there. During interrogation, he revealed names of other gang members.
City SP (East) Shailja said in course of investigation police found that one Shailesh Saw, the former head of Digwara, had made an agreement with Sri Devi over this land, while the woman’s brother had objected to the plot, due to which the dispute was going on for a long time. Attempts were being made to occupy the disputed land on Tuesday.
“The accused were involved in illegal possession of disputed lands for people in exchange for hefty sums. The seized land documents and weapons are being examined. An investigation is on,” Shailja said, adding the criminals were earlier involved in property dealer Prem Paswan murder case in 2021, attempt to murder, extortion and firing.
Police have started investigating their criminal history. Further probe is underway to identify other accomplices, trace similar cases and ascertain whether more properties were targeted using the same method, police said. Three country made pistols, four live cartridges, 15 android mobiles, a keypad mobile and three vehicles have been seized.
The accused were charged under BNS sections 111 (organised crime), 329 (criminal trespass and house-trespass), 320 (dishonest or fraudulent concealment, removal, or transfer of property to prevent its lawful distribution among creditors), 331 (covert/forced entry) and 112 (petty organised crime), and section 25 (1)(ba) of the Arms Act.
