They rose from dead to claim Rs 4,000 crore land in Thane

The filing of an FIR on the orders of the court has blown the lid off a Rs 4,000-crore land scam in Thane. The way documents were forged in the name of those dead decades back to perpetrate the scam has also brought into sharp focus the collusion of the revenue officials in the crime.

At the heart of the scam is a 25-acre plot at Boriwade village behind Hypercity mall on Thane's fastest developing Ghodbunder road which has been tilled by the Varekar family since the early 50s. "We have documents for the land since then," said Idris Abbas Varekar, who is fighting for his ancestral land. He hasn't gone home in nearly a month, thanks to threat to his life. "I stay with friends or relatives in Bhiwandi and keep changing my phone number to avoid getting threatened. I had thought I was fighting a just battle for what is rightfully mine, but it's been an increasingly uphill task."

Trouble came calling in 1996, when a developer Vikas Walawalkar approached Varekar showing interest in his land. "Since they were offering the market rate I agreed and they paid me for seven acres. Within a week they returned with henchmen and usurped the entire 25 acres," Varekar recalls, "the police refused to register a complaint."

"This land was my ancestral refuge. Without it, we're paupers," wails Varekar, 63, who says the pressure to complete the legal paperwork continued. In 2007, he was forced to move Thane court when he found out that Walawalkar had approached Thane tehsildar's office to get titledeed changed in the name of his father, Kamlakar Walawalkar in as early as 2001. Only Kamlakar had died on 10, September, 1995. The deceased was claiming power of attorney from a Parsi lady, Munzae Ardesar Doctor for the said land in 1989. Again, Doctor had died a whole six years (on August 1, 1983) before the said power of attorney was given!

"I pleaded before the court, with proof. The court pulled up the police and ordered filing of an FIR against Vikas Walawalkar and his associates Vinod Mahajan and Ashok Kulkarni on June 3, 2015," recounts Varekar.

The actual FIR was filed on June 6, this year. A copy with dna shows the trio has been charged under stringent cognisable sections of the Indian Penal Code, many of which are non-bailable and attract prison terms along with other penalties. The FIR, however, didn't lead to arrests, said Varekar. Kasaravadavli police instead told the court on July 22 that the three are absconding. "We are making inquiries. Just because the court said we cannot arrest someone," inspector DD Tele of Kasarvadavli station told dna.

Incidentally, though shown as absconding, the trio has been seen regularly coming to meet tehsildar Vikas Patil, according to staff working there. "They were last here on Wednesday," said a senior official adding, "Varekar's 25-acre land is worth Rs 400 crore. It connects Ghodbunder road with the Yeoor hills. The total land stretches to over 304 acres. Conservatively, this is worth Rs4,000 crore,"

Tehsildar Patil was irate when dna reached him for comment. "I get hundreds of visitors daily. We don't maintain any records of who comes. How am I to know if someone is an absconder?" His boss and Thane collector Ashwini Joshi too defended this stance. While admitting that an FIR suggested that the accused need to be arrested, she said, "As far as absconders are concerned what can the revenue department do? The police will have to take action."

dna tried to reach Vikas Walawalkar and his associates for comment. Satish Shetye, who "handles all property matters of Walawalkar family" and holds power of attorney for the entire 304 acres of land, told dna, "This is a creation of local anti-social elements to harass the Walawalkars." When reminded of the FIR registered at behest of court, he said: "The court was prejudiced."