Land grab accused Suleman moves HC to quash FIRs

PANAJI
Alleged land grab accused Siddiqui alias Suleman Khan has filed a petition before the High Court of Bombay at Goa seeking to quash FIRs and chargesheets in Mapusa and Valpoi land grab cases.

In his petition, a hearing of which has been scheduled for June 18, Suleman also pleaded to direct the Revenue Courts to investigate those FIRs or transfer the investigation to the CBI while also passing interim orders to stay proceedings till the disposal of the matter.

The Special Investigation Team, this February, filed two chargesheets alleging his involvement in fraudulent land acquisitions in Mapusa and Curca. The chargesheets, containing 852 pages and 656 pages, were submitted before the Judicial Magistrate First Class in Mapusa and Valpoi.

In the first case, filed in 2020, Suleman was booked by Mapusa police for allegedly forging documents to impersonate the rightful owners of land surveyed under Chalta No. 2 of PT Sheet No. 67 in Mapusa. He is accused of counterfeiting the official stamp of the Civil Registrar-cum-Sub-Registrar of Bardez and presenting these fake documents to transfer ownership rights.

In the 2021 FIR, Khan and his accomplices allegedly forged documents to claim ancestral properties in Goalim-Moula, Tiswadi, spanning 2.15 lakh square metres and commonly referred to as “Kot-Pot.” The SIT stated that Suleman followed the same modus operandi to execute the crime.