Soaring property prices across Punjab have Non-resident Indians erecting “not for sale” signs on their lands and buildings to stop the so-called land-mafia groups from selling their properties.
Properties across Punjab’s Doaba region where many Indo-Canadians hail from have been tagged and painted with ‘not for sale’ signs to warn unsuspecting buyers of being misinformed.
Local media in Punjab reported recently reported several cases of land grabs by gangsters and cops, who allegedly managed to sell the properties through forged documents and impersonation in the Doaba region, dubbed the Non-Resident Indian belt.
Among the properties where the “not-for-sale” signs have emerged include a house on the Mall Road, in the heart of Jalandhar, which has not a board on its roof and ‘not for sale’ painted on its wall.
 A big shopping store in Phagwara opposite Kamla Nehru College for Women, also advertises a ‘not for sale’ status. Just opposite to it is a shop-cum-office which also has the same message.
In recent years, the price of property in Punjab has soared to dizzying new levels, providing new incentives for NRIs to reclaim their land. Real estate analysts have predicted a 700 per cent increase in the Indian property market by 2015.
With the Indian middle class growing exponentially in a thriving economy, investment opportunities in real estate are ripe for the picking, especially by those who have been earning solid incomes in a developed nation such as Canada.
Aging NRIs, in particular, are returning to their birthplace to reclaim their property, which has often quadrupled in worth in the past five to 10 years, analysts said.
Every year, hundreds of land claims are filed by NRIs with police departments throughout India. From 2007 to June 2008, just in Ludhiana district in the state of Punjab, 31 complaints were filed by NRIs, mostly from Canada and the U.S. And, as most cases takes years to be resolved, experts speculate that there are thousands of open files throughout the state, from which the majority of Canada’s Indo-Canadians originate.
One such NRI in Ludhiana said: “I didn’t come to India for more than 10 years and only recently realized my property is worth 25 crore ($6 million).”
And NRIs are turning out to be easy marks. Punjab’s land wealth has invigorated the “land mafia” — a group of unscrupulous real estate agents, who hire thugs to keep a close watch on the lands and properties of NRIs who hardly visit the state.
In many cases, the land disputes have resulted in violence and murders.
Explaining the modus operandi, an official said the culprits keep in touch with the contacts of NRIs in order to know about their visits and the duration of their stay in India. They also study the status of their properties.
“Through these contacts, the mafia finds the person in whose name the initial conveyance deed - a legal document signed and delivered to effect a transfer of property and to show the legal right to possess it - has been executed by the NRI or the caretaker of the property here. After that the person is lured by the mafia with hefty amounts.”
In most cases, the person is a property dealer who resides only a little distance away from the property. This person is first lured into the mafia loop, say police.
“As the original conveyance deed doesn’t bear the photograph of the actual owner or NRI, the newcomer in the mafia group executes a general power of attorney (GPA) in favour of a property dealer of the mafia. They also spend hefty amounts in paying stamp duty,” the official told IANS.
After completing the paper work, the mafia creates confidence in a prospective buyer, showing him the rosy picture that this particular property is available for a throwaway price. Sometimes the buyer is told that the owner needs money for his medical expenses or foreign trips.
Another modus operandi the mafia adopts is showing the prospective buyer a fake agreement and the receipt of a hefty amount as proof that the property has been sold off.
“Through such means they receive a hefty amount from a prospective buyer. If things become apparent to the buyer, they threaten him with dire consequences and while returning his money ask him to compromise on a much lesser amount,” said another senior police official.
“It has also been noticed that such properties are mortgaged with banks for big loans.”
“Banks are also sluggish in getting a case registered, as they report the matter after a gap of more than four or five years. Such attitude on the part of bank officials adversely affects the prospects of a case and apprehending the accused persons,” the official added.
Land grabs have also been reported in the capital of New Delhi, where apartments in prime areas fetch US$3,000 per square meter, India’s tinsel town of Mumbai, which reports prices of US$17,000 per square meter for luxury used apartments and in the southern state of Kerala.
Recently, The Delhi government said it has retrieved about 136.5 acres of government agricultural land illegally sold by the land mafia in the last two months.