Minister for home (state) Ranjit Patil vehemently denied allegations of acquiring a land fraudulently and claimed that the complaint in this regard is politically motivated.
Patil claimed that the complaint Vikrant Kate has filed several complaints against him in the past too and all complaints eventually were found to be fake. The said complaint, he claims has also been filed in his connivance.
Backing his claims with evidences like property card and an explanation from deputy superintendent of the land and revenue department of Akola, Patil said the claim that the signatures were done by a dead man are false.
However, as per the complaint filed against Patil with the anti corruption bureau it is alleged that he forged a dead farmer's signature to sell off a plot of land in Akola.
Patil, 52, is a known orthopedic surgeon in Akola. The land in question was bought by him before he joined politics, in 2000 from the farmer, Haribhau Mohite, for Rs5 lakh, but didn't get the land transferred in his name.
Thirteen years later, in order to sell the land parcel, he got it transferred in the name of his son Sharva. The documents related to the deal show that the land was transferred in the name of Patil's son in March 2013, and the papers were signed by Patil and the original seller, Mohite. As per the government records, Mohite died 12 years ago, in October 2001, said the complaint, filed by a Mumbai-based advocate Prashant Nimbalkar.
Nimbalkar's complaint has said that Patil had purchased the land on behalf of his son, who was one-year-old when the deal was finalised in March 2000. "Patil waited 13 years to get the property transferred in his son's name, then sold it within six months for Rs36 lakh. The documents, accessed through the Right to Information Act, show that Patil had signed the land transfer form along with the original seller, Haribhau Mohite, in the presence of a land and revenue officer in 2013. The question is, how is it possible when Mohite had passed away in October 2001?" Nimbalkar said in his complaint.
