Five held for impersonating deceased owners in ₹2.29-crore land fraud

Five people were arrested for selling a 47-guntha plot in Karanjade, Navi Mumbai, by impersonating its deceased owners with forged documents, defrauding buyers of ₹2.29 crore.

Mastermind Suraj Vasudev Shinde allegedly had his father and brother-in-law impersonate the dead brothers Nathan Eliyahu Chincholkar and Shalom (Selim) Eliyahu Chincholkar, who had migrated to Israel and died there.

The sale was executed before the Panvel-I Sub-Registrar, and the land was sold to Prashant and Shreyas Patekar of CBD Belapur for ₹2.29 crore.

The case was registered at Panvel City police station on February 16 under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita; Suraj Shinde and relatives fled across multiple states, changing identities and phone numbers.

Police recovered forged Aadhaar and PAN cards, and Suraj Shinde and Tejas Surve are also accused in a 2022 cheating case; investigations continue for other suspects.