In a significant case of administrative corruption, the Chandigarh Police have taken into custody two employees of the Sector 17 estate office for their suspected involvement in the manipulation of official property documents. The arrested individuals are a clerk, identified as Lalit Mohan, and an outsourced peon, who are accused of tampering with a crucial property file.
SDM's Complaint Triggers Police Action
The arrests were set in motion following a formal complaint lodged by Naveen, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Central). The complaint was filed after a detailed scrutiny of a property file related to Sector 42-B revealed alarming inconsistencies. Officials discovered that certain correspondence pages within the physical file did not match their digitally scanned counterparts stored in the official system.
A thorough comparison confirmed the suspicions: genuine documents had been removed and replaced with other material. This serious discrepancy prompted SDM Naveen to order a preliminary inquiry to get to the bottom of the forgery.
CCTV Footage Provides Crucial Evidence
The inquiry, spearheaded by Assistant Estate Officer Naveen, unearthed damning evidence through surveillance footage. The investigation report, which was submitted on December 5, cited specific CCTV footage from September 24 and 25.
The video recordings clearly showed clerk Lalit Mohan and the outsourced peon accessing the estate office files during odd hours, without any proper authorisation. In a telling sequence, they were observed removing a file and later replacing it, with no other staff members present in the office at that time. This clandestine activity directly coincided with the period the documents were believed to have been swapped.
Legal Repercussions and Ongoing Probe
The Chandigarh Police acted swiftly on the inquiry report and the evidence it contained, leading to the arrest of the two accused. They have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to forgery, criminal conspiracy, and tampering with official records.
This incident has raised serious concerns about the integrity of land and property records within the city's administrative offices. It highlights vulnerabilities that can be exploited for potential illegal land transfers or fraud. The police investigation is ongoing to determine the full motive behind the document replacement and whether any other individuals or properties are involved in the scam.
