Living woman declared dead with help of patwari to grab her land; man held

Living woman declared dead with help of patwari to grab her land; man held 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 16.09.2024

Bhopal/Jabalpur : A living woman was shown as dead using a fake death certificate, and her land was fraudulently transferred into someone else’s name in Katni district. The accused, who got the land transferred to his name, was arrested by Katni police on Friday. The patwari who had helped him do so was already arrested earlier. The accused has been identified as Rajesh Kol, 47, a resident of Katni town. Police said that on April 11 this year, a case was registered at Kaimor Police Station against the accused Ram Lal Gautia, a resident of Vijayraghavgarh, and the accused Rajesh Kol. The investigation was underway. 

The accused Rajesh Kol had falsely declared Ratiya Kol, son of Hariprasad Kol, a resident of Kalhara, Kaimor, as deceased and, in collusion with the patwari Ram Lal Gautia, fraudulently transferred the land of the living landowner to his own name. An inquiry report regarding the mutation was requested from the patwari, who reported on March 20, 2023, that the land in question was currently registered in the name of Ratiya, son of Hariprasad Kol. The death certificate falsely recorded Ratiya Bai's death on March 15, 1998. The accused and the patwari had used this false death certificate to transfer the land to Rajesh Kol's name. 

When the living Ratiya Kol learned of this, she provided proof of being alive and filed a complaint. The investigation by the tehsildar of Vijayraghavgarh was in favour of the living person, confirming the fraudulent transfer by Ram Lal Gautia and Rajesh Kol. Based on the tehsildar's report, the crime was registered, and an investigation was conducted. Ram Lal Gautia was previously arrested, while Rajesh Kol had been absconding since the incident. He was arrested on September 13, said police.