India, April 8 -- Alleged land mafia kingpin Surendra Pratap Singh aka Randha has been arrested by the Mira Bhayander Vasai Virar (MBVV) police crime branch on charges of encroaching upon 2.10 acres of private land in Vasai and defrauding unsuspecting home buyers by selling them flats in illegally constructed buildings on the plot.

Singh was arrested on Monday night by a team attached to unit 4 of the MBVV crime branch based on technical intelligence and investigation. He was produced before the Vasai court on Tuesday and remanded in police custody till April 10, an officer from unit 4 told Hindustan Times, requesting anonymity.

Instances of land grab followed by construction and sale of unauthorized tenements are rampant in the Vasai-V...