UP: Case registered against Gonda Nagar Palika chairperson for illegally occupying enemy property

A case has been registered against Gonda Nagar Palika chairperson Uzma Rashid for illegally occupying an enemy property by forging government records, an official on Sunday said.

District Magistrate Neha Sharma said the Kotwali Nagar police station registered a case late Saturday night against Rashid under sections 419 (punishment for cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the IPC for illegally occupying enemy property by forging government records.

The assets left behind by people who have taken the citizenship of Pakistan and China -- mostly between 1947 and 1962 -- are called enemy property.

Sharma said the enemy property across the country was transferred to the name of the Custodian of Enemy Property, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

She said that in 2020, a case of illegal occupation of building numbers 15 and 16, recorded as enemy property in the revenue records in Mohalla Rakabganj at the district headquarters, came to light. An investigation into the matter was conducted on the instructions of the Custodian of Enemy Properties, which revealed unauthorized occupation of enemy properties. During the probe, it came to light that Rashid was shown to be the tenant of this property since 2001-02. Later, by manipulating the records of the municipality, this property was also transferred to her name, Sharma said.

The district magistrate said that the investigation confirmed tampering with documents related to enemy property of the Gonda Nagar Palika.

Rashid's name was mentioned in these documents in an irregular and illegal manner by forgery, she added.

On the orders of the Custodian of Enemy Property, the district magistrate took cognizance of this entire matter after assuming office. Action was initiated and the building was sealed by the administration in June 2023.

Rashid's father Kamaruddin, an advocate, has also been the chairman of the municipality in the past.

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