5 held for forging docus, selling dead Israeli siblings’ land to builder | Navi Mumbai News
NAVI MUMBAI: Five months after registering an FIR against eight accused for allegedly duping a Kharghar builder of nearly Rs 2.3 crore through the fraudulent sale of a 47-guntha (approximately 4,755 sq m) plot in Karanjade, Panvel City police have arrested five suspects.The land allegedly belonged to brothers Nathan and Shalom Eliyahu Chincholkar, who were born in Panvel but had migrated to Israel decades ago. The brothers died in 2011 and 2016, respectively.The police said three of the accused — Suraj Vasudev Shinde, Satish Namdev Shinde and Tejas Pramod Surve — were arrested from Thuvim in Goa. Another accused, Manish Manohar More, was arrested from Kolwal Central Jail in Goa after police obtained his transit remand. The fifth accused, Vasudev Namdev Shinde, who allegedly impersonated Nathan Eliyahu Chincholkar, the original owner of the land, was arrested from Dombivli.Police said they seized a fake Aadhaar card and PAN card allegedly prepared in the name of Nathan Eliyahu Chincholkar.Panvel City senior inspector Bala Kumbhar said, “During the probe, it was found that a case of fraud was also registered against the accused Suraj Vasudev Shinde and Tejas Pramod Surve at Uran police station and the court had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Suraj Vasudev Shinde. He had been evading arrest by changing his mobile number and place of residence repeatedly and had lived in the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.“According to the complaint filed by builder Prashant Patekar, 55, an estate agent, Amrit Thakur, informed him in 2024 that a 47-guntha plot at survey number 81/2 in Karanjade was available for sale. Patekar was allegedly shown the property documents by Suraj Shinde, an estate agent from Thane.Patekar said he verified the documents through a lawyer and was informed that they were authentic. The deal was subsequently finalised at Rs 5 lakh per guntha.According to the complaint, Patekar called the purported landowners, Nathan and Shalom, along with Shinde, an unidentified agent and Thakur to his office, where the deal was finalised. An MoU was signed, and a public notice regarding the proposed purchase was published in a local newspaper on June 6, 2024, inviting objections, if any.The agreement for sale was registered at the sub-registrar’s office, Panvel-1, on August 23, 2024. Police alleged that the accused submitted forged property documents as well as fake Aadhaar and PAN cards during the transaction.Patekar told police that he paid nearly Rs 2.3 crore to the purported landowners between June 5, 2024, and October 7, 2025, through cheques and RTGS.The alleged fraud came to light after Orian Moses Penkar, who had been granted power of attorney by Shalom’s son Bechalel at the Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv on July 16, 2025, sent Patekar a notice on August 18, 2025, stating that the land had been fraudulently sold.When Patekar questioned the purported landowners through Shinde, they allegedly claimed that the complaint was false. Subsequently, Aslam Munshi, on behalf of Bethel Israeli Trust chief trustee Moses E Jacob Korlekar, approached the police and alleged that the persons who had posed as the landowners were imposters.Police summoned the parties for an inquiry into the land transaction, but Shinde and three other co-accused allegedly failed to appear for several months.During further inquiries, Patekar learnt that the original owners, Nathan and Shalom, had migrated to Israel decades ago and had died there. Their heirs were residing in Israel and the US. Shalom’s son Bechalel had granted power of attorney to Penkar.Nathan’s son Emil Bezanmin alias Chincholkar and his wife Daisy also travelled from Israel to participate in the police inquiry. After examining the documents produced by the family, Patekar became convinced that he had been duped.He subsequently filed a complaint on February 16 against Shinde and three other accused, following which Panvel City police registered a case and launched an investigation.
