Suspects in land case granted bail

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda

Four persons who were in remand custody for allegedly mortgaging a forged land deed to a land belonging to other persons to obtain a Rs. 10 million loan from a finance company were released on bail by the Colombo Fort Magistrate.

The four suspects were ordered to be released on two sureties of Rs. 1 million each by the Magistrate Kanishka Wijeratne.

In this case, the complaint had been made by an owner of a two acre land located at Udugama, Veyangoda. In his complaint to the CID, the complainant P.A. Wickramasinghe stated he got to know the deed of the land owned by him and his brother had been mortgaged to a financial company and thereby obtained a loan of Rs. 10 million by several other persons.

The complainant told police that he was looking to sell the concerned land and contacted the land broker Kusum Shantha of Udugama in order to find a buyer.

He told CID that a copy of the land deed and the plan were given to the broker by him with an advance payment of Rs. 25,000.

The complainant further complained that after few days they got to know that the deed of the concerned land had been mortgaged to a financial company and thereby obtained a loan of Rs. 10 million.

The complainant further informed police that his and his brother signature had been fraudulently used to the forged deed by the suspects and impersonated themselves as the land owners.

Giving a statement to the CID, the attorneys-at-law and notaries public who had allegedly attested the deed told police that his signature had been also fraudulently used by the suspects. Accordingly second and third suspects who were allegedly involved in obtaining the loan were taken into CID custody.

The fourth suspect who had allegedly impersonated the owner of the land was also taken into police custody.