The police in Una district of Himachal Pradesh have registered a criminal case against three promoters of the GFIL — Rakesh Kant Syal, Pamela Syal and Neena Syal on charges of cheating.

The three are already behind bars and lodged in Model Jail, Burail, Chandigarh, since December 2000 for cheating, forgery, fraud and criminal conspiracy.

The trio is also facing trials in numerous criminal cases in courts of various states.

A case against the Syals has been registered this time for producing fake documents in purchasing of agricultural land in the state. According to the papers the Syals were agriculturist of Himachal Pradesh.

Updesh Kumar Verma, a resident of Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, had filed a complaint with the Una police in 2002, highlighting the illegalities committed by the family in the purchase of agricultural land.

A PIL was also filed by Verma in this regard before the Chief Justice of the High Court. Finally, a case was registered against the Syals.

According to the documents, which are with the Chandigarh Newsline, in 1992, the accused had procured a Himachal Agriculturist Certificate in the name of Amrit Lal, son of Durga Nand, resident of Upper Basal village from the tehsildar of Una. Interestingly, the name Amrit Lal matched with Syal’s father Amrit Lal Syal. The alleged fake certificate was used to purchase huge chunk of agricultural land in Ghagwan village of Indora tehsil in Kangra district.

Three years later, Neena Syal purchased a another piece of land in Mauja Garkhal of Kasauli, in Solan district by citing the same fake certificate, through which her husband Rakesh Kant claimed to be an agriculturist.

Similarly, Pamela Syal (Rakesh Kant Syal’s sister) also purchased agricultural land in the state claiming herself to be the daughter of Amrit Lal.

Over the years, the Syals purchased thousands of bighas of agricultural land at prominent locations in Himachal Pradesh, most of the time on the basis of the same fake agriculturist certificate.