BJP MP, 100 others booked in land grab case

GORAKHPUR: Ten days after a local court directive, the police lodged an FIR against BJP MP Kamlesh Paswan, his so-called businessman friend Sateesh Nanglia and about 100 others in a case of landgrabbing involving the alleged use of fake documents on Monday.

Ravi Rai, the station house officer of the Cantonment police station in Gorakhpur, said, “All have been booked under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 419, 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery related to valuables) , 468( cheating) and 471 (using genuine documents as forged).” Those named in the FIR include 97 people who purchased shops from Krishan Developers, a firm owned by Paswan and Nanagilia, in Baldev Plaza, a complex in the heart of the city in the Golghar area.

The MP, who represents the Bansgaon Lok Sabha constituency in UP, denied the allegation against him and said he would move a higher court to seek quashing of the FIR.

Chief judicial magistrate Yasmeen Akbar had on November 29 ordered the Cantonment police to register an FIR against Paswan and the others for allegedly using fake documents to register two acre-land of a shopping complex, Baldev Plaza, in their names in February 2015. The court directive came on a plea by Narendra Pratap. Claiming to be the original owner of the land, Narendra Pratap told the court that no action was taken against the accused despite repeated complaints. When contacted, Paswan denied his involvement in any forgery case. “The case has been lodged in the wrong way by Narendra Pratap, who hid facts related to the land. Also, the land related case is sub judice .I will move a higher court to get it quashed,” he said.