Dehradun, May 24 (IANS) The Dehradun Police have arrested Congress councillor Amit Bhandari alias Deepu in connection with an alleged organised land fraud racket operating in the city, officials said on Sunday.

According to the police, Bhandari and his associates allegedly duped several people by promising to sell them land using forged and fabricated documents.

Earlier, the police had arrested the main accused, identified as fraudster Pradeep Saklani, along with his associate Ajay Sajwan, on Friday in connection with the same case. Later on Saturday, Bhandari was arrested.

Officials said an FIR had been registered against the accused in October last year over allegations of cheating a person out of Rs 30 lakh. Police records show that as many as 27 FIRs have already been lodged against Saklani in different cases related to fraud and cheating.

SP City Pramod Kumar said that during questioning, Saklani disclosed the names of several people allegedly linked to the fraud network, after which special police teams intensified the interrogation of the suspects.

“During interrogation, Pradeep Saklani revealed the names of several accomplices, following which special teams carried out detailed questioning of the suspects,” the officials said.

The investigation further revealed that the accused had allegedly prepared forged ownership documents related to a plot of land in Dehradun belonging to an elderly woman currently residing in Maharashtra.

Police officials said the accused also allegedly created fake death certificates of the woman’s two sons in an attempt to establish fraudulent ownership claims over the property.

Using the forged papers, the accused reportedly sold the same piece of land to three different buyers, thereby cheating multiple individuals.

“Councillor Amit Bhandari was arrested after concrete evidence establishing his involvement in this fraud case (Case No. 82/26) came to light,” officials stated.

The police said some other suspects questioned in the case were later handed over to their families, as no conclusive evidence had emerged against them so far. However, they have been directed to cooperate with investigators whenever required.

Officials added that the police are likely to seek Police Custody Remand (PCR) of the prime accused, Pradeep Saklani, to further probe the wider network and uncover additional details linked to the alleged land scam.

–IANS

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