Mother, son booked for selling Indian Air Force’s wartime airstrip using forged papers

In a shocking case of land scam, Punjab Police have registered a case against a mother-son duo for allegedly selling off an entire airstrip of the Indian Air Force near the Pakistan border using forged documents.

 

The World War II era airstrip located in Fattuwala village in Ferozepur was used by the IAF in multiple wars including 1962, 1965 and 1971.

 

According to reports, Usha Ansal and her son Naveen Chand Ansal, who are currently residing in Delhi, allegedly sold the land to private individuals in 1997 after obtaining a forged ownership title by colluding with revenue officials.

 

It was the strenuous efforts of a whistle-blower that brought the malfeasance to light. Nishan Singh, a retired revenue officer, had filed a complaint years ago, but the authorities chose to sweep the issue under the carpet.

 

His allegations, however, prompted officials of the Halwara Air Force Station to seek an enquiry into the alleged land transaction in 2021. When the IAF’s complaint also elicited no action from the authorities concerned, Singh knocked on the door of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

 

Singh claimed that the original owner of the land was one Madan Mohan Lal who died in 1991. "It was found that the real owner had left for Delhi before 1947. The officers here prepared fake records and sold this land in 1997. Our revenue officers kept covering up this matter and kept taking huge bribes," he was quoted as saying by ANI news agency.

 

Finally, after the high court’s intervention, a case was filed against the mother-son duo at the Kulgarhi Police Station.

 

According to a report submitted by the deputy commissioner in the court, the land was in the possession of the IAF as per the revenue records of 1958-59.

 

An investigation into the alleged fraud is underway even as the land was restored to the Ministry of Defence in May 2025.

India