The Great Ferozepur Airstrip Heist: How A Mother-Son Duo 'Stole' War Land
For decades, villagers near Fattuwala in Punjab barely gave the old stretch of tarmac a second glance. Once a buzzing Indian Air Force (IAF) airstrip that roared with fighter planes during the 1962, 1965, and 1971 wars, it had quietly faded into local memory—until it mysteriously reappeared on paper, not as military land, but as someone's private property.
In a case that reads like a land heist thriller, a woman and her son are now at the center of a scandal involving the fraudulent sale of a 15-acre strategic IAF airstrip.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered a high-level investigation by the state Vigilance Bureau after evidence surfaced showing that Usha Ansal and her son Naveen Chand allegedly used forged documents in 1997 to illegally transfer ownership of the wartime airstrip, just kilometres from the India-Pakistan border.
Moneycontrol reported that the land was part of the historic Jahaz Ground, a 982-acre area acquired during British rule for use in World War II and later used by the IAF in multiple conflicts. The forged ownership documents surfaced six years after the death of the original landholder, Madan Mohan Lal, making the 1997 sale impossible under law.
According to the Times of India, even more alarming was the fact that despite the land's clear military relevance, local revenue officials allegedly validated the illegal transaction by mutating the ownership records in 2001. It wasn't until 2021—nearly 25 years later—that the IAF raised a formal red flag, triggering a court battle that's now blown the lid off what's being described as a massive land scam with national security implications.
'An Act of Betrayal'
The court has now ordered the Chief Director of the Punjab Vigilance Bureau to personally supervise the probe and submit findings within four weeks. The Ferozepur Police has also filed an FIR against the mother-son duo under IPC sections related to fraud, forgery, and criminal conspiracy (The Tribune, June 2024).
According to The Times of India, the Jahaz Ground was a vital military infrastructure hub. After serving in three major wars, its significance remained—until it mysteriously vanished from official records and resurfaced in private hands. What followed was a paper trail of forged Power of Attorney documents, dubious revenue entries, and years of administrative inaction.
With the land now restored to the Ministry of Defence, the incident raises critical questions about how strategic defence assets can be siphoned off through bureaucratic collusion. It also highlights the vulnerability of legacy military properties, particularly in border states like Punjab.
First Published:
July 01, 2025, 15:01 IST
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