Jamnagar lawyer held, was ‘legal brain’ behind land-grabbing syndicate, says police

A Jamnagar-based lawyer was arrested Sunday for allegedly assisting a land grabber, booked last month for running a property-grabbing and extortion racket in Jamnagar, run his crime syndicate, police said. Lawyer Vasant Manseta was a part of alleged land shark Jayesh Ranpariya alias Jayesh Patel’s gang and helped him in legal matters, police added.

Nitesh Pandey, ASP Jamnagar, said Manseta was held from Jamnagar city. On October 16, the police had booked 14 people, including Ranpariya, under Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime Act, 2019, for allegedly running a property-grabbing and extortion racket, and arrested eight men. Two others were arrested on October 28.

The ASP said Manseta was the “legal brain” behind the syndicate. “The gang would identify prime properties and, would issue public notices in newspapers claiming Jayesh Ranpariya had a stake in it to create dispute about the ownership of such property. This would dissuade prospective buyers. The gang would then extort money from the real owners in the name of settling the dispute. Manseta would issue such public notices,” Pandey said.