Ambala man pays Rs 27 lakh for a house of cards in city

Chandigarh : BE careful while purchasing a house: it could already be sold or mortgaged. That is the moral of an Ambala resident’s story. The resident Harish Chander had ended paying up a total of Rs 27 lakh to a Chandigarh resident for buying a house already mortgaged to a bank.

Now, Chandigarh Police have booked a Sector 38 resident, Charanjit Singh, on charges of cheating Harish by entering into a sales agreement with him for selling 50 per cent share of the house for around Rs 81 lakh.

Harish Chander, who trusted Charanjit Singh and entered into the agreement, paid Rs 10 lakhs to Charanjit Singh as earnest money. But, Charanjit demanded more and Harish obliged with Rs 17 lakh. The paid amount totalled about Rs 27 lakh, but Charanjit adopted delaying tactics, and did not get the property transferred in Harish’s name.

Harish, in his complaint to the police, mentioned that Charanjit demanded a sum of Rs 17 lakhs from him on May 17, 2005, saying that the amount would used to pay arrears due to the Estate Officer. A draft of Rs 17,20,071 was accordingly made in the favour of Estate Officer, Chandigarh, as per the instructions of Charanjit.

The date for sealing the bargain — which effectively meant that the sale deed would be executed in Harish’s favour — was fixed as August 1. But nothing happened.

In fact, Harish reportedly found out from the Estate Officer that Charanjit had mortgaged the property under sale with the Chandigarh Urban Cooperative Bank. Now, Harish has come to know from the Estate Officer that the accused has to pay Rs 19 lakh to the bank.

In his complaint, Harish has alleged Charanjit concealed facts with a malafide intention to cheat the complainant.

An inquiry has been conducted by the UT Police Economic Offences Wing, which has summoned Charanjit. ‘‘But Charanjit, rather than joining the investigations, sent us his reply through a courier. All the efforts to trace him too turned futile,’’ an investigating official said.

The police have registered a case against Charanjit on charges of cheating. Also, anticipating that Charanjit, a valid passport holder, might try to flee the country, the police have issued a Look Out Notice and flashed messages to all exit points to restrict Charanjit from moving out of Indian territory.