Cheated buyer files police complaint, lands Amin and seller behind bars

RANIPOOL, 13 Aug: An Amin [land surveyor] of the East District Collectorate and one other have been arrested by the Ranipool police on charges of having cheated a person of Rs. 4.5 lakh in connection with a land.
The two are alleged to have colluded to sell off a piece of land not belonging to either of them measuring 3,600 square feet at Marchak, Rumtek, at a throwaway price of Rs.3.5 lakh to the prospective buyer, Ashok Tamang. The cheated person filed a police complaint upon learning that Ajay Subedi, who had sold him the land, was not even the owner of the piece of land and that the Amin even though he knew about it went ahead to measure the land and also assisted in completing various formalities related to land sale and transfer of registration.
As per an FIR filed on 10 August by Ashok Tamang, a resident of Lall Market, Gangtok, on behalf of his wife Taruna Pradhan, Ajay Subedi, a resident of Sichey, below Paljor Stadium, had approached him with a proposal to sell his land situated at Marchak, Rumtek some months back. It is informed that the complainant was taken to the spot where Ajay Subedi allegedly showed him a plot stating that the land belonged to him.
After negotiating a deal for Rs 3.5 lakh for the said plot, Ajay Subedi is alleged to have conspired with the Amin, BK Gurung, who was present during the measurement of the land and other official formalities before the deal went through.
In the FIR it is stated that the Amin actually measured the plot that was selected by the complainant but did not belong to Ajay Subedi. In the process the complainant paid up Rs. 3.5 lakh for the plot with the approval and consent of the Amin who, it is informed.
During the process, the complainant is also said to have paid an additional Rs. 1 lakh to Ajay Subedi for another plot of land in the same area which he also claimed belonged to him. The Amin is said to have told the complainant that the land would be registered soon and a deal was reached that the remaining amount of around Rs 3 lakh would be paid by the complainant to Ajay Subedi after the land was registered. However, even this plot of land did not belong to the accused.
It is informed that the complainant received a sale deed from the East District Collectorate dated 17 January 2012 for the land that he had purchased for Rs 3.5 lakh. The complainant informs that he did not find anything suspicious at the time since the paper work had been done under the directions of the Amin.  
It is only some months after the sale deed was prepared that the complainant went to Marchak-Rumtek to start construction of a farm that he found out that the land sold to him was not the same plot.
“I was waiting for the registration of the second plot and in the mean time went to the spot to start with construction works. It was then that some locals came and challenged me that the land belonged to them. While I enquired I was told by the people that the land belonging to Ajay Subedi was in another location. I realized then that Ajay and the Amin had duped me,” stated the complainant.
Soon after, the complainant is said to have intimated the SDM, Gangtok about the fraud after which Ajay Subedi was summoned on 07 August. It is informed that Ajay Subedi admitted to the fraud and also agreed to pay back the entire sum with an interest of 10 percent per month on the total amount he had received by 31 October 2012.
“The SDM was very cooperative and responded immediately after I made the complaint to her office, she also assured that action would be initiated against the Amin who was away on a field survey at the time. However, since this was a case of cheating and fraud I approached the SP, East after consultation with the SDM,” said the complainant.
“It is when the SP intervened and I filed an FIR with the Ranipool police station on 10 August that Ajay Subedi was arrested the same evening”, he added. Simultaneously, the Amin, BK Gurung who actually is not the concerned Amin for Marchak-Rumtek and whose jurisdiction is Samdong in East Sikkim was also taken into custody on 11 August.