Woman forges Mhada flat papers, dupes army major

If you think that crooks acting as housing agents can only fool uneducated house hunters, here is a classic case which will prove you wrong.

A well-educated army major was recently duped by a woman who, posing as a real estate agent, tried a sell him a Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) flat in Mumbai by forging papers.

According to Jawahar Singh, chief vigilance officer of Mhada, one Poonam Khanna, 38, who stays in Juhu, had earlier sold one flat in Dwarka in New Delhi to one Ram Bhatia (name changed to protect identity).

“After this transaction in July this year, Poonam offered two Mhada flats in Mumbai to Bhatia’s son who is a major in the Indian army and is posted in Jammu,” said Singh.

He further added that since the first transaction between Poonam and Bhatia had gone smoothly, the Bhatia family believed the woman and decided to purchase the flat in Mumbai as well. The woman, according to sources in Mhada, is the niece of a famous Bollywood comedian.

“Poonam told the Bhatia family that the cost of the flat is Rs25 lakh and the army major should pay Rs5 lakh in advance. Bhatia senior also signed an agreement with the estate agent,” added Singh.

As per the agreement, if the Bhatia family were not to go ahead with the sale, Poonam had the right to keep the money. However, if she failed to sell the flat, she would pay back a sum of Rs10 lakh to Bhatia junior.

“Trouble began when Poonam started ignoring the major’s calls from Jammu. The major rushed to the Mumbai and made a complaint with the vigilance department,” Singh said adding that vigilance officers then went to Poonam’s house in Juhu and brought her to Mhada office.

When Mhada vigilance officers asked her about the flat documents, she admitted she had made bogus documents which she gave to the major. The case has been registered under sec 465,467,468, 471 and 471 of the IPC.