For decades, the real estate sector in the valley has operated in a grey zone.

With every change in law, policy, or political climate, a new crop of manipulators has found ways to profit.

Kashmir’s legal frameworks for land are detailed, often stringent, and historically meant to protect indigenous ownership.

But these very laws have also been weaponized, twisted through gaps in enforcement and hidden under layers of misplaced trust.

At the heart of the crisis is a well-oiled tactic: selling the same piece of land to multiple buyers.

It sounds too obvious, too clumsy, to be real. And yet it happens again and again, particularly in cases where non-resident Kashmiris aren’t physically present to oversee deals.

Partly milkiyat papers are used to grab the state land. Boundaries are blurred. And once the money is paid, the buyer is left to fight a legal battle that can stretch for years. Many don’t even try. They sell at a loss and walk away bitter.

The numbers are hard to pin down because no agency publicly tracks these frauds in a consistent manner. But anecdotal evidence points to a worrying pattern.

In towns like Anantnag, Baramulla, Budgam, and parts of Srinagar, cases of overlapping ownership and unregistered “deals” are widespread. Some brokers operate openly, even though a few of them were previously penalised.........

© Kashmir Observer