Lucknow: Barabanki police on Saturday busted a land fraud racket and arrested six people for allegedly cheating a woman of Rs 45 lakh by impersonating the owner of a 13-bigha agricultural plot and executing a fake sale deed.The arrested accused have been identified as Sunil Kumar Verma alias Sushil, Ravinandan Dwivedi, Vinod Kumar, Rajkumar, Nand Kishore and Banshi. Police also recovered a Swift car (UP32 RC 7467) allegedly used in the commission of the crime.The case was registered at Badosarai police station on July 9 following a complaint by Krishnawati, a resident of Chandwara village under Safdarganj police station. She alleged that she purchased 1.2890 hectares of agricultural land in Dereraja village through a registered sale deed on May 7, 2026. However, when she later attempted to take possession of the property, she discovered that the person who executed the sale deed was not the genuine owner.SP Barabanki Arpit Vijayvargiya said the accused meticulously planned the fraud by preparing forged documents and presenting one of their associates as the actual landowner before officials at the Sirauli Gauspur tehsil. The complainant allegedly paid Rs 45 lakh for the land, including Rs 15 lakh through RTGS and Rs 30 lakh in cash.During the investigation, police found that the accused first showed the complainant’s son the land and convinced him of its authenticity before finalising the deal. The fraud came to light only after the family attempted to take possession of the property.
