Kanpur: The Kanpur Police on Tuesday arrested Rev. Johnson T John, MD and ex-officio chairperson of the Lucknow Diocesan Trust Association (LDTA), in connection with the alleged illegal sale of prime nazul land in Chunniganj, estimated to be worth crores of rupees. Police described him as the alleged mastermind behind the land fraud.The accused was arrested in Lucknow after a court issued a non-bailable warrant against him. He was produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody.The case stems from an FIR registered at Colonelganj police station on Sept 3, 2024, on the complaint of a revenue official posted at Sadar Tehsil. The FIR names Rev. John, along with Church of India Trust Association authorised trustee Anil Kumar, Arpit Mishra, Deepak Kumar, Duryodhan Kumar and others, on charges of cheating, forgery, using forged documents and criminal conspiracy.According to the FIR, the disputed property was originally leased to the Mission Girls Orphanage. The complainant stated that under the Nazul Manual, once the lease period expires, such land automatically vests in the state govt free from all encumbrances and cannot be transferred into private ownership.The Uttar Pradesh Nazul Property (Management and Use for Public Purposes) Ordinance, 2024, which came into force on March 7, 2024, also prohibits the conversion of Nazul land into freehold ownership in favour of private individuals or entities.Police said a joint inquiry conducted by officials of the nazul department, Sadar Tehsil and the district administration found that the accused had allegedly forged documents, illegally constituted a new management committee of the LDTA, and executed lease deeds, sale deeds and sale agreements in favour of private buyers.Investigators alleged that the accused fragmented the govt land into plots ranging from 100 to 450 square yards and executed multiple transactions despite the lease having expired and the land being reserved exclusively for a girls’ orphanage. Police said the accused also allegedly entered into an agreement to sell around 16,190 square metres of the property for about Rs 5 crore to a group of private purchasers.During the investigation, officials also found that a 450-square-yard lease deed had allegedly been executed in Jan 2021 in favour of one purchaser, while several other sale deeds were subsequently registered in the names of different individuals.According to police, the nazul property measures nearly 15,000 square metres, portions of which were allegedly sold using forged records, resulting in wrongful financial gain and significant loss to the state.During the probe, police arrested one of the alleged purchasers and, during interrogation, identified 12 key suspects. They also obtained details of 10 bank accounts allegedly linked to the land transactions. A chargesheet has already been filed against 12 accused in the case.Police also alleged that Rev. John headed a network involved in preparing forged documents to grab and dispose of disputed land. Investigators said criminal cases are registered against him in Kanpur, Agra, Nainital and Delhi, and that he had remained absconding for a prolonged period before his arrest.
