Daijiworld Media Network – Mapusa

Mapusa, Aug 2: In a shocking case of land grabbing through forgery, Mapusa Police have arrested two individuals for allegedly fabricating a will and forging documents to illegally claim nearly 2.8 lac square meters of ancestral property in Corjuem, Aldona.

The arrested have been identified as Devidas Gopinath Panjikar and Vaman Shridhar Polle, who were taken into custody after their anticipatory bail pleas were rejected by the district court earlier this week.

According to police sources, the duo is part of a larger group of six accused — including a land broker — who conspired to create a fake will in the name of the late Anant Narayan Kamat. The forged documents were reportedly used to fraudulently transfer large plots of land spread over multiple survey numbers in Corjuem: 52/0, 51/3, 50/7, 100/7, 100/1, 53/8, 55/8, 55/9, 28/1 (part), and 140/1 (part).

The scam came to light after several legal heirs of the deceased filed a complaint, alleging a criminal conspiracy involving impersonation, forgery and deception aimed at seizing the high-value ancestral land.

The First Information Report (FIR) names six individuals: Vishant Kamat (land broker), Suhasini Padwal, Prakash Mahambre, Vaman Shridhar Polle, Devidas Gopinath Panjikar, and one unidentified person.

Police have registered the case under stringent provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 — including Sections 319(2), 336(3), 338, 340(2), and 318(4) read with 3(5) — dealing with forgery, conspiracy, and criminal impersonation.

The complainants have further alleged the involvement of a public notary, a stamp vendor and a legal professional, pointing to a broader nexus aimed at legitimising the forged will and facilitating the fraudulent property transfer.

A manhunt is currently underway to nab the remaining four accused.