Varanasi: Azamgarh police arrested a fraudster- Krishnachandra Rai, for cheating many land buyers, on Sunday.The accused, along with his wife and son, cheated people in the name of land deals using forged maps and fake land revenue records and other documents, and duped over Rs 2.87 crore. He has 13 cases lodged against him. Azamgarh’s CO (City) Shubham Todi said that Rudransh Rai of Madhuban village had filed a complain against Rai alleging that the accused, a resident of Mohammadpur Pheti, proposed selling land in the Kodar Ajmatpur area to him in May 2023. He even arranged meetings with landowners, and after finalising the land agreement and payment in instalments, Rai, his wife Renu, son Sangam, and other gang members took Rs 33.30 lakh from him as an advance. But neither the agreement was executed and he was handed over possession of the land.When Rudransh started enquiring into the matter, he found that most of the land was barren, and several gata numbers were not even related to that location, as shown on the forged map-nazri of revenue records provided to him with fake stamps and signatures of revenue inspector and tehsildar. When he demanded his money back on Feb 21, Rai threatened him of implicating him in false cases.A case of cheating, fraud, and forgery was lodged against Rai, his family and other associates. During investigation police found that 12 more similar cases were lodged against the accused and he and his family members were booked under the Gangster Act in 2025. They were also included in the list of land mafia for carrying out organised fraud, forgery, and illegal activities related to land since 2011.Rai confessed to duping people of lakhs of rupees by preparing forged maps-nazri and other documents.
