Man booked for duping blind daughter of flat

Mumbai: It took them a while, but officials at Chembur police station have finally registered an FIR against Uday Agarwal for allegedly fraudulently wresting a Rs 1-cr flat from his visually impaired daughter. 21-year-old Neha had lodged written complaints with Chembur police as well as the zonal deputy commissioner of police, claiming that her grandfather, 82-year-old Nandlal Agarwal, had gifted her flat number D-2 at Jeevan Cooperative Society in Chembur -- where he lives alone -- on January 29 last year. The proprietorship of the 500-sqft apartment was formally transferred to her via a gift deed registered at the sub-registrar's office in Kurla on February 1, 2011.

In her complaint, Neha has accused her father Uday Agarwal of resorting to criminal measures by creating a forged document -- with her bogus thumbprint -- which showed that he had Power of Attorney over her assets. He then proceeded to get another gift deed registered at the same sub-registrar's office, on January 28 this year. This sham document transferred the gifted apartment to the possession of her younger brother, who is a minor. MiD DAY had reported the matter (Blind girl runs pillar to post to reclaim Rs 1-cr property from father) on Feb 10.

Realty bites
Neha had claimed that cops were deliberately delaying action on her complaint, as her father was acquainted with many of them. Upset with the 'clandestine' attitude of the police, Neha instructed her lawyer to move a writ petition in Bombay High Court, which was filed accordingly and the matter was slated for hearing on March 1.

However, before the court could hear the matter, an officer from Chembur police station reportedly approached Neha and requested her not to pursue the matter in court as they [police] had decided to take cognizance of her written complaint and were keen to register an FIR.

Speaking to MiD DAY, Neha had earlier stated: "My father cheated me, taking advantage of my blindness. I am unable to concentrate on my studies due to the ill treatment he has meted out to my mother and me. We both were thrown out of our house in the middle of the night last December. Since then my mother and I have been living with her parents in Khar."

"As instructed by the police, my client visited Chembur police station and finally lodged an FIR against her father. Police have registered a case under section 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery) along with other relevant sections of Indian Penal Code," Neha's lawyer Dinesh Tiwari said.

On the case
Zonal Deputy Commissioner Manoj Kumar Lohiya said, "We have already registered an FIR in the case. We are probing the matter from all possible angles and future course of action will depend on the nature of material evidence that we gather during the course of our probe."

"My daughter and I have gone through a lot. I can't take it anymore. Neha cannot be deprived of her rightful asset, which was gifted to her by her grandfather, keeping in mind her disability and future," said Pooja, Neha's mother. "My client can always execute her right to approach Bombay High Court if she feels that the police are making any deliberate attempts to derail the probe," Tiwari added.

Off course
Meanwhile, Neha, who is in the final year of her graduation, will have to wait another year due to poor attendance at college, caused by domestic clashes between her parents.