Team Herald
PANJIM: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on land grabbing has filed its third charge sheet against Suleman Khan alias Siddiqui in connection with a land grabbing case registered in Mapusa in 2022. With this, all three cases against him have now been charge-sheeted.
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The 1,364-page charge sheet names 45 witnesses who will now be examined. It has been submitted within 90 days of the arrest of the accused.
The case was originally registered at Mapusa Police Station in 2022 based on a complaint by Arjun S. Shetye, from the Office of the Civil Registrar-cum-Sub-Registrar, Bardez, Mapusa. The accused—Suleman Afsana Khan and Asif Allabaksha Saudagar—allegedly forged documents related to survey numbers 455/7, 466/5, and 466/6 of Thivim, Bardez, and impersonated legal heirs to fraudulently transfer ownership. They also allegedly used counterfeit government stamps to facilitate the fraud. The accused successfully deprived the rightful heirs of their properties before concerned authorities.
The case was later transferred to the SIT (Land Grabbing), which, after investigation, submitted the charge sheet before the JMFC Mapusa Court on Friday.
Previously, on January 30, 2025, the SIT had filed two separate charge sheets against Suleman Khan—one 852 pages long and another 656 pages—for land grabbing cases in Mapusa and Valpoi. He was accused of forgery, cheating, and creating fake documents to illegally seize land.
Khan, who faces over 15 serious cases, had been on the run for five years after changing his appearance to evade arrest. He was finally arrested in 2024 but later escaped from Crime Branch custody, before being rearrested. The SIT’s investigation confirmed that he was the mastermind in all three cases, successfully forging property documents and completing the mutation process before authorities.
AAP chief alleges police harassment over repeated summons
Team Herald
PANJIM: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) President Amit Palekar was on Friday questioned for the third time by the Old Goa Police in connection with a video released by Suleman Khan alias Siddique an accused in multiple land grab cases who escaped from the custody of the Crime Branch last year but was arrested later.
Speaking to media later, the AAP chief lashed out at the Goa Police and the ruling BJP government, calling Suleman Khan alias Siddique an embarrassment to both. Frustrated with repeated summons, Palekar has urged the police to arrest him instead of harassing him with constant notices.
Palekar questioned whether the Old Goa Police had summoned the entire SIT Crime Branch team that was with Suleman before his arrest, as well as the political leaders named by Suleman.
“Have their tower locations been tracked? Have their statements been recorded, despite Suleman alleging that he was forced to make a video at gunpoint? ” he asked.
Raising further concerns, Palekar criticised the notice served to him under Section 35 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which is typically issued to an accused.
“Despite a charge sheet already being filed in the matter, why am I being served a notice under a section usually meant for an accused?” he questioned.
Palekar urged the people of Goa to reflect on his situation and question whether such harassment is justified.
“Goa Police have become rogue police, and this is nothing but pure harassment,” he stated.
