The Two Town police (Maharanipeta zone) arrested three members of a family for allegedly faking pattadar passbooks and title deeds and defrauding an industrialist to the tune of Rs. 65 lakh, here on Monday.

The arrested include P. Narayana Rao, his wife P. Parvathi, and son P. Dharma Rao, all natives of Regidi Amdalavalasa mandal of Srikakulam district.

According to Two Town Inspector Mallikarjuna Rao, the trio faked pattadar passbooks and title deeds and enhanced the extent of land of 1.39 acre that they actually owned to 15 acres.

In 2012, the accused got in touch with a city industrialist K. Phanikumar who intended to set up a pharmaceutical company in Srikakulam. Showing the fake passbooks and the title deeds, they reportedly collected about Rs. 65 lakh from him.

Registration delayed

After collecting the amount, the trio kept on delaying the registration process under one pretext or the other for the entire last year.

Suspecting something was fishy, Mr. Phanikumar initiated an enquiry, and when he got the pattadar passbooks and title deeds verified, he found them to be fake and the land did not exist physically on their name.

In February this year, a complaint was lodged by Mr. Phanikumar in the Two Town Police station and after a thorough investigation, the three were arrested.

Probe on

According to Mr. Mallikarjuna Rao, both passbooks and the title deeds were signed by an MRO and not by an RDO, which should have actually been.

“We are investigating if there was any support from officials from the Revenue Department in faking the documents,” he said.

According to the inspector, the accused confessed that such shady deals were rampant in Srikakulam district.

An industrialist from the city has allegedly been duped to the tune of Rs. 65 lakh