Chennai - Beware of Land frauds

Powerful brokers are cheating land owners in Chennai and the police are thought to back the rich and the mighty, reports say. Forty-six year old Devi ended up in a police station after she shouted at construction workers who were illegally taking over her family's lands. The family lands are owned by seven members but documents show it belongs to a private builder. Devi's brothers say they were tricked into a deal by a local real estate builder. The brothers Elumalai and Jayaraman say they have been made to sign on blank pieces of paper. ''IT people abroad are buying the property. Its there on the website of the Adityaram group. But all his dealings are completely fraudulent,'' says Elumalai. An advocate for Adityaram Properties denies, but the police decided to back the powerful builders. Villagers in the area fear the police the most. Jayaraman adds, ''they called us, locked us up and then released us. The DC Adyar said, 'its the rate I fix Rs 25 lakhs in 10 minutes you'll have the cash.'' The police department's 'land grabbing cell' has atleast 1000 cases and they admit there are atleast four or five forged documents for many properties. With a boom in real estate prices there is a huge spurt in the number of cases of land grabbing and land fraud in Chennai.