May 12: If the land Jeetendra Awhad's friend tried to grab in Thane were to be restored to its ``rightful'' owners, or their descendants, the government may end up handing over five suburbs of north-east Mumbai starting from Ghatkopar stretching upto the Thane creek.

This is the astounding claim Balchandra Koli, the man at the centre of the Thane land scandal, has made. The scam has already led to the arrest of Jeetendra Awhad, a Sharad Pawar loyalist and a Youth Congress leader.

Koli bases his claim on a letter given to his grandfather, Mahadeo Shimgya Koli, by the British East India Company in 1850. The British, ``owners'' of the islands, had at the time granted fishing rights to Mahadeo along this stretch from Thane Koliwada, to Ghatkopar. The coastal stretch along the Thane Creek was declared government land in 1955. However, on December 7, 1995, Koli approached the Thane Collectorate claiming that 74 acres of land adjoining Kopri Colony in Thane district belonged to him. His claim was rejected by the district administration.

According to ACB officers, the conspiracy to claim the coastal land was hatched in 1987. Koli approached two Thane architects, Sandeep Prabhu and Makarand Parange, to help him claim the land. The two architects roped in Preetam Deoulkar, who was posted at Mantralaya as clerk in the Department of Civil Supplies. The duo passed on Rs 2 lakh to Deoulkar on behalf of Koli, the police said.

Deoulkar then went on a forging spree. He altered land records between 1930 and 1951. Official signatures were forged on government letter heads, many at the secretary level. However, Koli grew suspicious over the forgings. Matters came to a head when he discovered that the officials who were introduced to him as ``under secretaries'' at Mantralaya were ``fake''.

Koli wanted his money back but when he failed to persuade Deoulkar, he lodged a complaint with the ACB, Thane, on May 31, 1996 an event which now seems to have backfired on him. He also sought Awhad's intervention.Meanwhile, it's enquiry complete, the ACB booked the complainant himself. Prakesh Adde, Deputy Superintendent of Police, ACB, Thane, said Awhad's role in the scandal appears limited to only ``threatening'' Deulkar to return the money. But he has been implicated because a set of the forged papers that Koli had handed over to him were recovered from his house.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.