Arjuna awardee Dr Otilia’s prime land mysteriously sold (Herald)

December 4, 2013 GERARD DE SOUZA gerard@herald-goa.com PANJIM: The first Goan to be given an Arjuna Award and the only Goan to be captain of the Indian women’s hockey team ~ Dr Otilia Mascarenhas is being given a traumatic time, by what she believes is a “land mafia syndicate”. A piece of prime property in Porvorim that was willed to her and her brother by an uncle José Avito Pinto do Rosario who died in 2002 has mysteriously been sold this year, with the dead man signing a sale deed to sell the property to one Moises Fernandes from Benaulim for Rs 70-lakh! Her question is simple. “How can a dead man sign a sale deed and sell his property 11 years after his death?” And why, she asks, are the police taking so long to act and vacate her own house of those who have "illegally occupied" it and give her back possession, in what she says, is clearly an open-and-shut case. Worse still, the property is already registered in her and her brother’s name after the demise of her uncle and it no longer stood in her dead uncle’s name. But as the situation stands, the property is in the possession of the ‘buyer’ and the police unable to trace the ‘seller’. Frustrated and on the verge of tears, Dr Otilia Mascarenhas has vowed to return her prestigious Arjuna Award to the President of India as it was he who awarded it to her back in 1973, if the State and its machinery fails her. “Few days back when I was in Germany, I was informed by my neighbours that some unknown persons have been trying to interfere with my property. I immediately flew down to Goa and was shocked to find that my house was in a totally bad shape,” she said in her police complaint. Prior to the take over of her house while she was abroad, Dr Mascarenhas and her family have been using their house like it was their own, because it was their own. “I was in Goa from December 2012 to March 2013 and I and my husband would pass a day or two during weekends in the said house. My brother and sister in law during their visit to Goa also spent time in the said house in early-June 2013 and the house was under our lock and key,” she said. A sale deed was registered by the Civil Registrar cum Sub-Registrar of Bardez at Mapusa signed by one man impersonating the dead man José Avito Pinto do Rosario. Claiming to be the owner of the land he sold it to one Moises Fernandes of Benaulim. “The police officer asked the trespassers under what authority they were in the house, one of the trespassers told the police that they had a sale deed... On 17/10/2013, I went to the Porvorim Police Station and I was informed that Adv Amit Palekar had produced the sale deed of my property and house dated 13/08/2013. On reading the sale deed I was shocked that the Deed states that the property was sold by an impersonator in the name of my late uncle José Avito Pinto do Rosario to Moises Joao Fernandes of Vasvaddo, Benaulim,” she narrated. “My uncle died on 20/06/2002 and after 11 years of his death it is unbelievable that he could sign the said deed. The sale deed had a PAN Card along with the impersonator’s photograph, the name in the PAN Card is that of my uncle though the surname wrongly spelt, the address on the PAN Card was a fake address at Dharavi in Mumbai, while the form filled for registration of sale deed indicates my house address H.No 230, Alto Porvorim, Goa,” she has said. It’s now November and the possession of the house is still with whoever has subsequently occupied it. The police too have made no headway in tracing the imposter. When contacted Adv Amit Palekar who is defending the accused buyer, said that his client Moises Fernandes is a bonafide purchaser of the property. “This is what we have also told the court. My client is a bonafide purchaser of the property. Whether the person who has sold it is the original owner or a fraud, that the court will decide,” he said. Dr Mascarenhas thought it fit to approach the local MLA Rohan Khaunte in the hope of having him come to her aid but to no avail. To her shock and is belief Khaunte told her that “he would not recommend me to go to the Civil Court as it would take 10 years and that the lawyers would only be making money and that the Judges are corrupt and his advice to my problem is to sell the property.” Herald’s efforts to contact Rohan Khaunte remained futile. “I am deeply depressed and humiliated as I have lost everything. Precious antiques, the stolen property which is yet to be recovered. I am especially upset that these fraudsters have cut down several fruit-bearing trees, the fruits of which I have enjoyed in my childhood. Besides the crime being a serious economic offence because the money trail of Rs 70 lakhs is yet to be traced, the criminal has been granted anticipatory bail. Is this not a case that requires a custodial interrogation?” she asked. “I have decided to stand up for my rights and go public so that other Goans will not give in to treachery, forgery and fraud committed by the land mafia over several years. This organised crime is increasing unabated,” she told Herald. The new buyers have already approached and secured an electricity and water connection for the property in order to carry out a new construction. Dr Mascarenhas has approached the Socorro panchayat for cancellation of that licence but it is yet to be done. The police have meanwhile filed for the cancellation of the anticipatory bail of Moises Fernandes only last week more than a month after the FIR was filed and he filed and secured anticipatory bail. The imposter has not been traced as yet and the police are yet to even contact the sub-registrar in connection with the fraudulent registering of the sale deed. “Complaint register hone de full scale full blast karunga. Sab police ka force lagaunga (Let her register the complaint. I will blast it on a full scale. Will use all the police force),” Parrikar had said in connection with the case of journalist Tarun Tejpal. If only the same “sab police ka force” could be used to protect the rights of some who has brought laurels to the state at a level no less than the Olympics! Herald has repeatedly tried to contact Chief Minister for his statement on this issue, but to no avail. When contacted PI Vaigankar in-charge of the Porvorim police station said that they have moved for cancellation of his anticipatory bail and “the moment they get police custody the case will be over.” When asked what is taking them so long especially since it’s been a month since the FIR was lodged, he denied that there was any delay and said that he could do little since the buyer had anticipatory bail. “We have to prove that he is not cooperating with the investigation and then his bail will be cancelled,” he said. When asked to confirm whether the complainant has been asked to take possession of the house, he replied in the negative saying that only courts can decide who can take possession. Frustrated and on the verge of tears, Dr Otilia Mascarenhas has vowed to return her prestigious Arjuna Award to the President of India as it was he who awarded it to her back in 1973, if the State and its machinery fails her... http://oheraldo.in/News/main%20page%20news/Arjuna-awardee-Dr-Otilia-rsquo-s-prime-land-mysteriously-sold/82816.html