Purushottampur: In a blatant challenge to the government’s commitment to transparency and anti-corruption initiatives, a major land scam has come to light at the Purushottampur Sub-Registrar’s Office, where fraudsters allegedly used fake Aadhaar cards and a fake person to sell someone’s land.
According to sources, members of the land mafia replaced the real owner with another person, created a fake Aadhaar card in his name, and submitted it during registration to facilitate the sale. Public suspicion has grown about possible collusion or negligence on the part of officials and middlemen. The disputed land comprises two plots under account number 390 in the name of Dandapada Bauri Dora, a Telugu community resident of Barabargan village under Ranigam Mouza in Purushottampur tehsil. Plot number 3062, measuring 0.340 decimals, and plot number 3063, measuring 0.453 decimals, were allegedly sold to Bhagyalata Mahapatra of Birajgannathpur village on June 6, with her husband, Saroj Kumar Das, listed as the buyer. The transaction was recorded under registration document number 10682501285.
The Aadhaar number submitted for the seller—3392 7210 5438—shows the date of birth as January 1, 1949. However, the same number is officially registered in the name of P. Mahendra Dora of Kolasingi village, who also owns the land there. This discrepancy strongly suggests that the Aadhaar card used during registration was fake. The registration documents reportedly show a photo of a fake person shown as the land owner. Four people from Gadasahi in Purushottampur are also listed as sellers in the documents. People have appealed to revenue officials and the Ganjam collector to conduct a thorough investigation to determine the full extent of the fraud. Purushottampur sub-registrar Kaliprasad Dhal said, “The seller showed an Aadhaar card, which was accepted. We have now learned that the same Aadhaar number belongs to two different people. An investigation will be conducted.”
