By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 4 Mar: In the past two decades, the real estate market in Uttarakhand in general and in Dehradun in particular has been booming. However, this boom is unfortunately accompanied by large scale land frauds and a surge in fake registries, often in connivance with local revenue officials and local police officials. The nexus between the land mafia, the politicians and officialdom has remained the talk of the town here for the past many years. After a spate of complaints regarding fake registries and of manipulation of land records in the registrar offices, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate. A large-scale fake registry scam was exposed about two years ago and since then around 20 persons including some realtors and lawyers have been jailed. Several of them are already out on bail. But the investigation has continued. The SIT investigation has revealed the vast extent of the scam, with 378 complaints filed to date.
According to the SIT, the accused land mafia forged documents of nearly 2,000 acres of land, and this not only includes fake registries and record manipulation of government land, but also private land. Numerous legal cases have been registered following these complaints. Land records dating back to 1948 have also been found to have been manipulated.
Investigations indicate that old records from 1948 were tampered with and replaced with fake documents to illegally seize land worth crores. Shockingly, some accused registered properties under the names of their minor children, who are now selling the land to others. The scam involved a network of handwriting experts and employees from the registrar’s office in Saharanpur. Though the SIT has not stated this, but the experts claim that such massive frauds could not have happened without the connivance of very senior officials, but the SIT has only been able to lay hand on very junior level officials so far.
Atul Kumar, a registration official, confirmed that the fraudulent transactions were based on 1948 records stored in Saharanpur. The accused replaced original documents with forgeries to falsely establish ownership, affecting approximately 2,000 acres of land. Further investigations are ongoing.
The scam exploited weaknesses in the system, with registrar office employees swapping genuine registry documents with forged ones. Handwriting experts are now examining all suspicious registries. Investigations also suggest that when Dehradun’s land records were stored in Saharanpur, the accused manipulated them for personal gain, taking advantage of systemic loopholes.
Following the revelation of fake registries in 2023, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered the formation of the SIT. Initially, its tenure was set until November 2023, but due to rising complaints, it was extended to March 2024, then to September 2024, and later to February 2025.
Over four phases, the SIT has received 378 complaints, of which 97 were recommended for legal action. So far, 70 cases have been registered, with further proceedings underway.
The government claims that the fraudulent activities came to light in July 2023 when CM Dhami personally conducted a surprise inspection at the Dehradun registry office, uncovering widespread irregularities. This led to the establishment of the SIT to ensure a thorough investigation.
To prevent wrongful prosecution, the government has mandated that all suspicious registries undergo extensive verification before filing charges. Garhwal IG Rajeev Swaroop has raised concerns over cases being registered without SIT approval and has instructed all SSPs and SPs in Garhwal to ensure transparency. The administration is also considering a new policy where land fraud cases reported at one police station are investigated by officers from a different station to reduce bias and improve the integrity of investigations.
