7 booked for selling NRI’s land by forgery

Rajkot: Smita Parekh, originally from Rajkot, has been living in the US for three decades. She filed a complaint at Shapar Veraval police station alleging that her husband's relatives forged her signature and used another woman's photo in place of hers in land registration papers. They allegedly sold a piece of land in Rajkot that belonged to her without her knowledge.
The complainant is an American citizen. Her late husband, Dilip, who died in Jan 2023, had bought three land parcels measuring 1,483 square metres at Veraval village in Kotda Sangani taluka of Rajkot district in 1995, registering them in her name. She entrusted the original land documents to Dharmesh Parekh, her husband's nephew.
In 2013-14, the couple learned about the unauthorized sale of the land but couldn't travel to India. On her recent visit to Rajkot, she investigated at the Gondal sub-district office and discovered the conspiracy.
Dharmesh Parekh had forged Smita's signature, while his sister Hetal had replaced Smita's photograph with her own in the documents and impersonated her at the sub-registrar's office.
Dilip Bhut and Jayesh Bhut bought the land at a reduced price, despite knowing about the fraudulent papers, and established a metal factory there. Two plots were sold in 2013-14, while Dharmesh sold another plot by creating a forged power of attorney in his name. That plot is also currently possessed by Bhuts.
Smita, who lives in New York, filed a complaint against seven persons: Dharmesh Parekh, Hetal Shah, Dilip Bhut, Jayesh Bhut, Shantilal Bhut, Prakash Delvadiya and Jasmat Sangani.