Aurangabad: Based on a complaint by the authorities, city police have booked eight people for illegally transferring a mosque, graveyard and community centre on prime property in the heart of the city in their own names. All the accused were previously members of committees that oversaw these properties that belong to the Wakf Board.The alleged forgery and change of title was committed a couple of decades back. It only drew the attention of authorities in the year 2013, when committee members changed.Mohammed Gayas Bagwan lodged a complaint about the possession of Bagwan Masjid in city survey number 14089, the community hall in survey number 14169 and the graveyard in survey number 14208. In his complaint, Bagwan explained that in connivance with authorities at the city survey office, some men forged records and transferred the prime properties in the name of former trustees of the mosque, hall and graveyard.The complainant stated that the suspects changed the titles without knowledge and permission of the Wakf, the actual owner of these properties situated in Sabzimandi between Paithan Gate and Sillekhana area.Based on the complaint, all suspects have been booked by the City Chowk police station under sections of IPC 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), and 471 (using as genuine a forged document).City Chowk police station senior inspector Dadasaheb Shingare told TOI, “All these properties are situated in a common area and belong to the Maharashtra State Wakf Board, making them non-transferable.”The officer said that sometime in the 1990s, the then trustees’ names got recorded on the title of these properties, following which their kids, about five years back, began to claim that these were properties they inherited and sought to get them transferred in their own names.A preliminary probe showed that some accused have passed away. Police said none of the accused has so far been arrested.With a series of complaints lodged by a rival group, the suspects have all faced one inquiry or another in the past few years. The majority of these complaints were earlier lodged with Kranti Chowk police station or the city police commissionorate.Police authorities maintained that the case has been registered with the City Chowk police station after a specific complaint mentioned that using forged documents, the titles of these prime properties were changed at the City Survey office, falling under the jurisdiction of the City Chowk police station.

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