A senior clerk–sub-registrar in Pune was suspended for registering the sale of a non-transferable 15-acre government plot worth ₹33 crore.
A police complaint names 26 people as officials probe undervaluation and possible wider involvement.
The case surfaces amid other land deal irregularities in Mundhwa and Bopodi, where officials have also been suspended.
A 15-acre government site in the Pune area that belonged to the Animal Husbandry Department was allegedly sold in violation of state regulations, prompting the Inspector General Registration (IGR) to suspend an officer and initiate a high-level investigation.
Despite being deemed non-transferable, the land in Tathawade, Pimpri Chinchwad, was sold for Rs 33 crore, according to officials on Thursday.
They stated that the state government must first provide its approval before the land can be sold.
"The IGR suspended Vidya Shankar Bade (Sangle), Senior Clerk and In-charge Sub-Registrar (Class II) of Haveli No. 17. A joint inquiry by the Deputy Inspector General of Registration and Stamps and the District Registrar found Bade had registered the sale deed despite clear restrictions on transfer," an official said.
"The act is of a serious nature and continuation in service would adversely impact the inquiry," the suspension order stated.
Bade has been attached to the Principal Stamps Office in Mumbai during his suspension and is prohibited from leaving the headquarters without authorisation.
The official also stated that a departmental investigation has been started to find out if anyone else was involved and to look into the land's undervaluation.
Dr. Amol Aher, the farm manager for the Animal Husbandry department, told PTI that he has submitted a complaint application to the Pimpri Chinchwad police against 26 individuals, including those who sold the land and those who bought it by signing the sale deed.
The incident has been brought to light just a few days after separate land deals in the district at Mundhwa and Bopodi revealed purported anomalies.
In the Mundhwa case, which purportedly concerns a business connected to Parth Pawar, the son of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, two FIRs have already been filed.
A tehsildar in the Bopodi land deal case and a sub registrar in the Mundhwa land deal case have already been suspended by IGR.
