Surat: A 69-year-old school owner lodged a police complaint alleging he was cheated into buying a plot in Bhimpor after being assured of a clear title, only to later discover that the property was encumbered by multiple prior sale transactions.Jagdishwarnath Tripathi, who runs Gyan Bharati Higher Secondary School at Navagam-Dindoli, alleged that three men induced him to buy land in Madhav Nagar Cooperative Housing Society by claiming that the title was clear.According to the FIR, Tripathi met the property brokers Gaurav Saluja and Vishnukumar Bubna in 2019. They showed him plots numbered 1331 to 1335 and assured him that there would be no title-related issues.Tripathi subsequently purchased the five plots through registered sale deeds executed in 2019 and 2020. He alleged that the brokers repeatedly assured him that the properties had clear titles.The fraud came to light in Aug 2025 when Tripathi visited the plots to clean the premises and begin construction of a boundary wall. Local residents pbjected to the work, claiming ownership of the land and disputing the plot numbers.Tripathi then obtained revenue records and discovered that Plot No. 1333 had a contested history. According to the complaint, Jayeshkumar Patel bought the plot in 2015 and then sold it to another person through a registered deed in Aug that year. The same plot was allegedly sold again by Patel to another woman in Nov 2015.The latter purchaser subsequently sold the property to Rakeshkumar Agrawal in Dec 2018. Agrawal later sold the plot to Tripathi through a registered sale deed in Feb 2020, allegedly with the involvement of brokers Saluja and Bubna.Tripathi alleged that the two brokers were aware of the earlier transactions and the defect in the title but concealed the information while assuring him that the property had a clear title. He further alleged that they acted in connivance with Patel and induced him to pay a substantial amount for the purchase.Dumas police have registered an FIR against Patel, Saluja and Bubna under Sections 318(4) and 54 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Further investigation is underway.
