Cantt police in Varanasi have registered an FIR against five people, two of them serving police constables, after a head constable alleged that he was cheated of Rs 10 lakh in a land deal and threatened when he asked for his money back. The case was lodged at Cantt police station on Tuesday.
Those named in the FIR include Gaurav Gupta of a firm called Kasturi Infra, a man identified as Pawan, and constables Dwivijay Yadav and Deepak Kumar, both posted at Police Lines, along with others. The charges relate to cheating and issuing threats, police said, though the specific legal sections have not been made public. No arrests had been reported when this article was written.
The complainant is a head constable currently posted with the UP-112 emergency service in Chandauli. His account, as recorded in the FIR, goes back to his earlier posting in Varanasi, when he came to know Gaurav Gupta, a resident of Ashok Vihar Colony in the Pahariya area who told him he dealt in buying and selling land.
According to the complaint, Gupta showed him a plot behind the Murdaha police outpost and put its price at Rs 20 lakh. On 28 August 2024, the head constable says, he paid an advance of Rs 4.99 lakh at an office on Maqbool Alam Road to seal the deal.
The complaint then turns to the two constables. The head constable alleges that further sums were paid into their bank accounts towards the price of the land, on the assurance that the registry would be done. He says neither the plot was transferred to him nor was any money returned, and that he was threatened when he pressed for a refund.
Cantt Inspector Rajkishore Pandey confirmed that the FIR has been registered against Gaurav, Pawan, constable Deepak, constable Dwivijay and others, and said the matter is under investigation. Police said Gaurav Gupta already has 12 cheating cases registered against him.
These remain allegations. None of the accused has been convicted in this matter, and the account of the payments comes from the complainant's side. Police have not said what part each person named is alleged to have played, or whether the two constables have been questioned. Establishing guilt, if it comes to that, is a matter for the investigation and the courts.
The case is unusual because both sides wear the same uniform. A head constable going to a police station to accuse two serving constables is not an everyday complaint. Police have not said whether any departmental action has been initiated against the two men while the criminal case proceeds.
It is also the latest in a run of property disputes reaching Varanasi police stations this autumn. Last month Manduadih police registered an FIR alleging a Rs 40 crore grab of a late doctor's estate, and Cantt police separately booked a case over a Rs 5 lakh flat advance paid without possession. Earlier this month, in a separate financial fraud case, the Economic Offences Wing arrested an agent in a Rs 1.5 crore loan fraud case.
What ties many of these complaints together is money handed over before the paperwork. A buyer pays an advance on the strength of a site visit and a verbal promise, and the registry, which is the only step that legally transfers the land, keeps getting pushed back.
There are basic checks any buyer in Uttar Pradesh can make before parting with money. The khatauni, the record of rights that shows who owns a piece of land, can be seen at the tehsil office or on the state's UP Bhulekh portal. Past sale deeds and registered documents can be traced through the sub-registrar's office and the state registration department's online service.
Payments are easier to follow later when they go through a bank to the actual owner of the land and are backed by a written agreement that names the plot, the price and a date for registry. Money paid to third parties who are not on the title, or cash handed over at an office with only a receipt, is much harder to recover if a deal collapses.
