Mumbai: Five Arrested in Rs 2.29 Crore Panvel Land Fraud; Dead Landowners Shown Alive to Execute Fake Sale
Mumbai, 2nd August 2026: Panvel City Police have arrested five persons for allegedly orchestrating a land fraud worth ₹2.29 crore by fraudulently selling a 47-guntha plot in Karanjade after showing two deceased landowners as alive in official records.
The arrested accused have been identified as Suraj Shinde, Satish Shinde, Tejas Surve, Manish More, and Vasudev Shinde. According to the police, the accused used forged documents to execute the sale of the land, which originally belonged to brothers Nathan Eliyahu Chincholkar and Shalom Eliyahu Chincholkar.
Investigations revealed that Nathan and Shalom Chincholkar had passed away in Israel in 2011 and 2016, respectively. Taking advantage of the fact that their legal heirs reside abroad, the accused allegedly fabricated documents to falsely portray the deceased brothers as living and completed the illegal land transaction.
Police said the fraud came to light after a complaint was registered at Panvel City Police Station. Following the FIR, the prime accused, Suraj Shinde, along with his associates, allegedly fled Maharashtra and frequently changed locations across multiple states to evade arrest.
After a months-long investigation, Panvel City Police tracked down the accused and arrested all five. They have been booked on charges related to cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and other applicable laws.
Further investigation is underway to determine whether the accused were involved in similar land fraud cases and whether additional individuals were part of the conspiracy.
