Plot to grab property worth Rs 3 crore foiled

MID-DAY (JULY 2001)

By Skimmy Gupta

Advocate Firoz Ansari was arrested yesterday morning for forging documents and thumb impressions to appropriate the property of the late poet and lyricist Padmashree Sahir Ludhianvi. Seven odd holdings valued at Rs 3.5 crore were in possession of Ludhianvi's ailing sister Shervar Shafi, but Ansari obtained her thumb impressions to transfer them to his daughter's name.

When Ansari made a sudden appearance at Ludhianvi's Juhu residence, neighbours alerted the police.

The ailing Shervar was being looked after by her nurse Felomina Jose and maulana Rabil-Ul-Haq-Sheikh but Ansari had kicked them out.

'Ansari appeared at Ludhianvi's Juhu residence, claiming to be a distant nephew of Shervar who was semi-comatose. She had undergone a major operation and lapsed into a coma when Ansari came and took over the household and threw out the old nurse and caretaker," explained ACP Bhimrao Sonawane.

Shervar expired on June 9 but Ansari had managed to obtain her thumb impression on documents that stated that Ludhianvi's property was left to Ansari's minor daughter. "Instead of preparing for her last rites, the stranger disappeared and returned late in the night. He claimed that the properties had been bequeathed to his daughter and took possession of the flats," alleged neighbours at Parchaiyyan Co-operative Society, Juhu.

According to API Sujata Patil, Ansari had obtained the thumb imprints on property papers after her death and manipulated records to gain possession of Ludhianvi's property.

"Investigations confirm that affidavits were filed in court in the absence of witnesses and Ansari had resorted to manipulation to take possession of the estate. All the poet's relatives are in Pakistan and Ansari took advantage of this to dupe his sister on her deathbed," said Patil.

However, Ansari denied that he had forged documents. "I was Shervar's caretaker and her moral support during her sickness. She expressed her desire to bequeath the properties to my daughter," he claimed from behind bars at Juhu Police Station.

The police claimed that Ansari could not prove his relation with Shervar.

"The accused has five brothers but no one except him is seen in photographs with her. Moreover, Ansari had entered the house only a few days before Shervar's death and complaints of his fights with the caretaker and the nurse are recorded in the police station," said API Patil.