Retired IAS officer among six booked in land fraud case

Lucknow: Police registered a case of fraud against retired IAS officer Ashok Chandra and five others following a court order on Sunday. The accused are allegedly involved in a land fraud case amounting to Rs 87 lakh.According to Harinam, a resident of Karora village in Nagram, his father, Ayodhya Prasad, discussed selling four biswa of land in 2015 with an acquaintance, Mishrilal, from Sahan Kheda. Mishrilal assured him that a man named Chamanlal would purchase the land.When the deal was finalised, Harinam and his father went to Mohanlalganj Tehsil for registration, where they met Mishrilal's associate, Durga Prasad. Mishrilal's lawyer allegedly took Ayodhya Prasad's thumb impression on the registry papers without allowing him to read them. Later, they discovered that the land was not registered in Chamanlal's name but was transferred to someone else.Mishrilal and Shailendra then took Harinam and his father to the collectorate, where they made them sign blank papers under the pretence of completing formalities. They even took thumb impressions from Harinam's uncle. It was later revealed that the accused orchestrated a conspiracy to sell the family's land fraudulently.Harinam further alleged that the accused obtained official approval from the district magistrate's office. Subsequently, Rajendra, another accused, replaced his father with a man named Rishu and sold the land to retired IAS officer Ashok Chandra. The accused also took Rs 87 lakh from him. Ashok Chandra claimed that he was also deceived by the accused, who took money from him.However, Nagaram SHO said a case has been registered against Ashok Chandra, Rishu Singh, Shivam Bhaskar, Shailendra Singh, Durga Prasad, and Mishrilal.