CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu police to crack down on fraudulent agencies that deceive landlords by renting out their properties to third parties under usufructuary mortgage arrangements - without the knowledge or consent of the actual owners.
The directive was issued by Justice AD Jagadish Chandira while hearing a petition related to such offences. The judge had earlier asked the DGP to initiate steps to prevent this emerging scam, prompting the DGP to issue a circular memorandum to all unit officers.
Following the directions from the court, DGP Shankar Jiwal instructed the police to pay special attention to such offences and ensure thorough investigation under the supervision of designated officers to protect unsuspecting landlords and tenants from falling prey to the fraud.
According to submissions made by government advocate S Santhosh recently, deputy commissioners of the Central Crime Branch in Chennai city, Tambaram and Avadi commissionerates, as well as deputy commissioners and SPs in districts, have been asked to closely monitor investigations and conduct quarterly reviews to track the progress of such cases.
During the hearing on Tuesday, the government advocate submitted a compliance report to the court along with a short video created to raise awareness about such fraud. “The awareness video and alert message must reach a wider audience,” the judge said.