Panvel Police have arrested five accused in an alleged ₹2.3 crore land fraud case involving forged identity documents used to sell property belonging to deceased owners. Investigators allege fake Aadhaar and PAN cards were created, while the probe continues into the wider conspiracy and remaining accused.

Five Arrested in ₹2.3 Crore Panvel Land Fraud Case as Police Uncover Fake Identity Scam

Five persons have been arrested in a case of alleged land fraud worth ₹2.3 crore that dates back five months. The accused sold land of deceased owners based in Israel using forged identities and documents, police said.

Five accused have been arrested in a Panvel land fraud case after investigators alleged they cheated a Navi Mumbai-based builder of nearly ₹2.3 crore by fraudulently selling a 47-guntha land parcel in Karanjade. The arrests followed a five-month probe of five months by Panvel City Police into complaints of cheating and forgery against eight persons.

The property in question belonged to the deceased brothers, Nathan Eliyahu Chincholkar and Shalom Eliyahu Chincholkar, who were Israeli natives born in Panvel and had migrated to Israel decades ago, police said. The brothers reportedly died in 2011 and 2016, and their legal heirs are still living abroad.

Those arrested are Suraj Vasudev Shinde, Satish Namdev Shinde, Tejas Pramod Shinde, Manish Manohar More and Vasudev Namdev Shinde, police said. The authorities said Vasudev Namdev Shinde, posing as Nathan Chincholkar, had used forged identity documents in the land transaction.

Panvel Police trace accused across multiple states

Investigators tracked the suspects through technical surveillance and intelligence inputs, senior inspector Bala Kumbhar of Panvel City Police Station said. During the operation, Suraj Vasudev Shinde, Satish Namdev Shinde and Tejas Pramod Shinde were nabbed from Thuvim, Goa.

Meanwhile, police added that co-accused Manish Manohar More was already in the custody of Mapusa Police in an unrelated theft case and was lodged at Kolwal Central Jail. He was transit-remanded by investigators before he was officially arrested for the alleged land fraud.

Fifth accused Vasudev Namdev Shinde was arrested from Dombivli. During the search, police said they recovered forged Aadhaar and PAN cards allegedly made in the name of Nathan Chincholkar and used to carry out the disputed transaction. 

Inspector Kumbhar said that the investigators also found that separate cases of fraud against Suraj Vasudev Shinde and Tejas Pramod Shinde were registered earlier at Uran Police Station. Reports said a non-bailable warrant had been issued by a court against Suraj.

Police said Suraj had changed his mobile numbers and residences several times to escape arrest. He allegedly stayed across Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh while evading law enforcement, claim investigators.

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Builder alleges forged documents enabled ₹2.3 crore transaction

The complainant, builder Prashant Patekar (55), told police that in 2024 the estate agent Amrit Thakur told him a 47 guntha property at survey no. 81/2, Karanjade, was available for sale. The documents were given by an estate agent of Thane, Suraj Shinde, he said. 

Patekar said that he had got the property papers checked through a lawyer and they were found to be genuine. He then sealed the deal after meeting the people who introduced themselves as Nathan and Shalom with Suraj Shinde, an unknown estate agent, and Amrit Thakur.

The deal was reportedly fixed at Rs 5 lakh per guntha. A memorandum of understanding was signed, and a public purchase notice inviting objections was published in a local newspaper on June 6, 2024. The sale deed was registered at the Sub-Registrar Office, Panvel-1, on 23rd August, 2024.

The imposters had submitted forged property papers along with fabricated Aadhaar and PAN cards during the process of registration, police said. Patekar told the investigators that he had transferred around ₹2.3 crore by cheques and RTGS between June 5, 2024 and October 7, 2025.

The alleged fraud was uncovered when Orian Moses Penkar, who had received a Power of Attorney from Bechalel, son of Shalom Eliyahu Chincholkar, via the Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv on July 16, 2025, issued a legal notice to Patekar on August 18, 2025.

The notice alleged that the land was acquired through fraud. Patekar allegedly questioned the alleged land owners through Suraj Shinde, who allegedly denied any wrongdoing and alleged that the allegations were false. 

Things changed when, on behalf of Bethel Israeli Trust and its chief trustee Moses E. Jacob Korlekar, Aslam Munshi approached the police and claimed the alleged sellers were impostors. All relevant parties were summoned by investigators, but the accused did not show up for several months, police said.

Further inquiries revealed that Nathan and Shalom had died years earlier in Israel, while their legal heirs lived in Israel and the United States. Nathan’s son Emil Bezanmin alias Chincholkar and his wife Daisy arrived from Israel to give evidence at the inquiry. 

After going through the documents submitted by the legal heirs, Patekar felt that he was allegedly cheated and filed a formal complaint on February 16 against Suraj Shinde and other accused. The investigation continues, and police are still trying to track down the remaining suspects. Sprouts News has learned that authorities are reviewing additional documentary evidence and financial transactions to determine if further arrests or charges will be made.