Sub-registrar, real estate firm owner held for cheating landowner in Bengaluru

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the city police on Tuesday announced the arrest of a sub-registrar and the owner of a real estate firm for allegedly cheating landowners by creating fake documents and selling multiple sites without their consent.

The scam came to light when a resident of Beretena Agrahara had filed a complaint at the Parappana Agrahara Police Station in 2022. The complainant, who knew the real estate company owner, had entered into an oral agreement with him to develop residential sites on his land. The accused subsequently developed 107 sites on the property.

While selling the sites, the real estate owner, along with an associate, allegedly misled the complainant by claiming he had given them authorisation through an agreement to sell the plots. The complainant was then taken to the sub-registrar’s office under the pretext of registering a single site in his presence.

“However, in collusion with the sub-registrar and a computer operator, the accused created fake documents and sold multiple sites to the public without the complainant’s knowledge, collecting crores of rupees and cheating him,” the police said in a statement.

A case was initially registered at the Parappana Agrahara Police Station, and in 2024, it was transferred to the Organised Crime Wing (OCW) of the CCB for further investigation.

Following a sustained probe, the CCB arrested the sub-registrar and the real estate owner, who had been absconding for nearly three years. Further investigation is under way, officials said.