Goans made ‘trespassers’ in their own properties: Their inheritance stolen, and their future buried

 ASMITA POLJI  

asmita@herald-goa.com

ANJUNA: They are prisoners in their own homes. Homes their ancestors built, some passed down to them. Homes where they still live. These very homes have become their prison cells.

 Unknowingly the long arm of the mafia has grabbed their property transferring them to the land-grabbing goons, without the knowledge or, as Herald has constantly reported. But Herald found during the course of its continued engagement with many people who have similar horrifying experiences that the land grabbing has gone to another level.

We now have cases where properties have been grabbed while the next of kin of the original owners are living in them

Out of form: Names deleted from Forms I and IV in a flash

In Badem Anjuna, some suddenly figured that their home is not where their heart is. In fact what they knew was home was not their “home “any longer

 The situation especially in Badem is such that people who are living in the house have put up Boards outside their houses saying” PRIVATE PROPERTY NOT FOR SALE, TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED” and similar boards are erected in other properties to avoid any further sale or trespassing in the properties.

But the twist in the tale is what really hurts. In many cases, with their properties sold not once but multiple times, those who are putting up the boards, are in the eyes of the law trespassers themselves

Vincent De Souza is one of the victims. Read his traumatic story, “18000 sqmt of land which I am co-owner of has been fraudulently transferred where the titles are changed. We came to know about this in February. When we checked online, we found that many other properties are fraudulently taken over by land mafia groups. De Souza lives in Bombay and his cousin lives in the house, which is, on paper, no longer theirs

“We came down in March and lodged a police complaint but to date, no FIR has been registered,” De Souza said.

Clearly, the short arm of the law can do nothing against the long arm of the mafia

 “It’s been two months that the FIR is not registered, this gives a doubt that there is the involvement of administration including the police, mamlatdar, and other machinery are either paid off or are in connivance with these fraudsters”, De Souza said.

Trapped in their own homes

De Souza recounted how the land grabbers behaved with his cousin brother, Devkumar Adhikari who now lives in the “grabbed” property when they came to “take possession”: of what they literally robbed.

 After they had “relevant” documents to show they made a legitimate purchase, they came to take possession “When they came to take possession of the land, they threatened my cousin brother not to move out. He is a heart patient. They blocked the access road and started using the JCB” De Souza said

Adhikari’s wife remarked “They threatened us ordering us to get into the house and not even open the windows”

 How the “fraudsters: stop at nothing: Including changing genders

 In another case, in Anjuna the property belonged to the great grandfather-in-law of the current victim. The property now had two owners, both females. The rogues made the (deceased) mother-in-law of the current victim into a man and showed “he was married to the other woman, and it is this “married” couple whose (forged) signatures were put on the fake sale deed and the property was transferred in the name of the land grabbing gang. That too, a year after the mother in law, who “signed the deed” passed away. Another example of how the dead don’t talk, but they can surely sign.

  “They have made by mother-in-law as man and got her “married” to the other lady who owns the other part of the property. They made two women marry each other. Also, my mother-in-law died in 1995, and in 1996 they made a sale deed with her signature and thumb impression. Till April 2021 the property was in my mother-in-law’s name but after March the names were changed on one and fourteen”, the victim, Matilda Coutinho informed

 When Team Herald visited the village and met some of the victims, your paper learned that most of the affected people are senior citizens who are having a traumatic time and desperately trying to get their land back.

 Original owners have become trespassers

 If these properties are sold for the third time then the original badekar will now be declared as encroachers while the land grabber gang has become the rightful owners. Can irony be more cruel?