Gurugram lawyer held for fraudulently selling land of man who died in 1993

Gurugram, Dec 18 (PTI) A 40-year-old lawyer was arrested for allegedly defrauding a company by selling land belonging to a person who died in 1993, officials said on Thursday.

According to police, the accused, Naveen Rana, from Bajghera village here, also opened a bank account in the same person’s name using fake documents.

The manager of Axis Bank’s Sadar Bazar branch lodged a complaint on September 10, 2024, alleging that a person identifying himself as Om Prakash opened a bank account at the Palam Vihar branch in December 2015.

Two days later, Rs 46.50 lakh was deposited in the account, following which the bank froze it on January 1, 2016, the complainant told police.

In October 2016, the account was transferred to the Sadar Bazar branch, police said.

In 2018, Angel Buildtech Private Limited lodged a complaint accusing that it paid Rs 46.50 lakh to Om Prakash for the purchase of land, but later found that the real Om Prakash died in 1993, they added.

Investigators found that Rana opened the account using forged documents. In May 2023, again posing as Om Prakash, he submitted a forged sale deed related to the company, on the basis of which the frozen account was unfrozen.

He subsequently transferred Rs 59,72,608, including interest, to his personal account through NEFT and IMPS, police said.

An FIR was registered at Shivaji Nagar police station and the case was handed over to the Economic Offences Wing-II, which arrested Rana on Wednesday.

“During interrogation, the accused admitted that he practised law at the Gurugram court and was acquainted with Om Prakash, who died in 1993. Posing as him, he sold the land in Bajghera and later siphoned off the money after getting the frozen bank account unfrozen using forged documents,” a Gurugram police spokesperson said.

Further investigation is underway, police added. PTI COR OZ OZ