Builder would have made Rs 20 cr from illegal structures
All it took was bribes of Rs 5 lakh each to four Thane officials
Lucky Developers, the promoters of the seven-floor Mumbra building that collapsed on Thursday killing 74 people, would have made a profit of Rs 20 crore from their three illegal buildings by paying a bribe of just Rs 20 lakh to the police and municipal officials.
Even more shockingly, sources said, it was municipal officials who gave the builders the idea to populate the building quickly to make it difficult for authorities to act on them. Police sources said Jameel Qureshi, one of the partners in the company, confessed that he paid a bribe of Rs 5 lakh each to a senior police inspector, a corporator and two municipal officials to get approval for his dubious file. All four are now arrested.
The police said they found a Qureshi’s diary that corroborated his confession. Mumbra police on Saturday arrested Qureshi from his home in Uttar Pradesh while the Thane crime branch arrested his partner Salim Shaikh a day before. Deputy Municipal Commissoner Deepak Chavan was also arrested in Thane. On Sunday six more people were arrested – Assistant Municipal Commissioner Babasaheb Andale, constable S Sayeed from Diaghar police station, local NCP corporator Hira Patil, TMC clerk Kisan Madke, collection agent Jabbar Patel and Afroz Ansari, who supplied the inferior building material.
According to the police who pieced together the sequence of events, Lucky Developers first contacted Jabbar Patel, a real estate agent. Patel put them in touch with policemen from the Diaghar police station and promised to get the no-objection certificate from the police.
Jabbar then contacted Afroz Ansari, who agreed to supply the building material at a very low cost. Patel then contacted Diaghar ASI S Sayeed and convinced him to arrange a meeting with senior officials. Sayeed was paid a mere Rs 4,000 to set up a meeting with Senior Inspector K Naik, who assured them that his men would not interfere with the construction process.
Once the police were in their bag, the developers went to work on Thane municipal officials.
Jabbar first contacted local corporator Hira Patel and convinced him to rope in senior TMC officials, for which Hira Patel got Rs5lakh.The corporator then approached head clerk Kisna Madke, who indirectly controls the flow of procedures at the corporation. Madke then introduced the developers to Assistant Municipal Comissioner Baba Saheb Andhale, who moved the file to his senior Deputy Municipal Commissioner Deepak Chauhan, who gave the final approval for the project. Both of them took Rs 5 lakh each. The police said the builders also promised these high officials one flat each in the building for the favours they rendered.
Thane Police Commissioner KP Raghuvanshi said the police has detailed documentary evidence to prove that the developers paid timely bribes to top officials so that they would turn a blind eye to the ongoing illegal constructions.
“As investigations proceed, more arrests are anticipated,” Raghuvanshi told Mumbai Mirror.
WHOSE LAND IS IT?
With an unprecedented toll of 74 in the Mumbra building collapse bringing the scanner on illegal constructions in the area, every department is trying to distance itself from the blame.
Forest officials said the land on which the ill-fated structure stood was not apart forest land.TheTMC,onthe other hand, said the land belonged to the forest department and that the corporation had nothing to do with it.
Forest officials said the land indeed belonged to them till 1978, but was “encroached upon by tribal people after that.” They said Lucky Developers bought the land from “private owners” in 2013 for Rs 40 lakh.
“It is tribal land and does not belong to the forest department,” said GT Chauhan, deputy conservator of forests, Thane. “Since forest land is adjacent to it, people assumed that this too was forest land. We have verified our records and it has come to light that the land belong to a private owner.”
Courtesy:
Nazia Sayed @timesgroup.com
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=MIRRORNEW&BaseHref=MMIR/2013/04/08&PageLabel=3&EntityId=Ar00300&ViewMode=HTML
All it took was bribes of Rs 5 lakh each to four Thane officials
Lucky Developers, the promoters of the seven-floor Mumbra building that collapsed on Thursday killing 74 people, would have made a profit of Rs 20 crore from their three illegal buildings by paying a bribe of just Rs 20 lakh to the police and municipal officials.
Even more shockingly, sources said, it was municipal officials who gave the builders the idea to populate the building quickly to make it difficult for authorities to act on them. Police sources said Jameel Qureshi, one of the partners in the company, confessed that he paid a bribe of Rs 5 lakh each to a senior police inspector, a corporator and two municipal officials to get approval for his dubious file. All four are now arrested.
The police said they found a Qureshi’s diary that corroborated his confession. Mumbra police on Saturday arrested Qureshi from his home in Uttar Pradesh while the Thane crime branch arrested his partner Salim Shaikh a day before. Deputy Municipal Commissoner Deepak Chavan was also arrested in Thane. On Sunday six more people were arrested – Assistant Municipal Commissioner Babasaheb Andale, constable S Sayeed from Diaghar police station, local NCP corporator Hira Patil, TMC clerk Kisan Madke, collection agent Jabbar Patel and Afroz Ansari, who supplied the inferior building material.
According to the police who pieced together the sequence of events, Lucky Developers first contacted Jabbar Patel, a real estate agent. Patel put them in touch with policemen from the Diaghar police station and promised to get the no-objection certificate from the police.
Jabbar then contacted Afroz Ansari, who agreed to supply the building material at a very low cost. Patel then contacted Diaghar ASI S Sayeed and convinced him to arrange a meeting with senior officials. Sayeed was paid a mere Rs 4,000 to set up a meeting with Senior Inspector K Naik, who assured them that his men would not interfere with the construction process.
Once the police were in their bag, the developers went to work on Thane municipal officials.
Jabbar first contacted local corporator Hira Patel and convinced him to rope in senior TMC officials, for which Hira Patel got Rs5lakh.The corporator then approached head clerk Kisna Madke, who indirectly controls the flow of procedures at the corporation. Madke then introduced the developers to Assistant Municipal Comissioner Baba Saheb Andhale, who moved the file to his senior Deputy Municipal Commissioner Deepak Chauhan, who gave the final approval for the project. Both of them took Rs 5 lakh each. The police said the builders also promised these high officials one flat each in the building for the favours they rendered.
Thane Police Commissioner KP Raghuvanshi said the police has detailed documentary evidence to prove that the developers paid timely bribes to top officials so that they would turn a blind eye to the ongoing illegal constructions.
“As investigations proceed, more arrests are anticipated,” Raghuvanshi told Mumbai Mirror.
WHOSE LAND IS IT?
With an unprecedented toll of 74 in the Mumbra building collapse bringing the scanner on illegal constructions in the area, every department is trying to distance itself from the blame.
Forest officials said the land on which the ill-fated structure stood was not apart forest land.TheTMC,onthe other hand, said the land belonged to the forest department and that the corporation had nothing to do with it.
Forest officials said the land indeed belonged to them till 1978, but was “encroached upon by tribal people after that.” They said Lucky Developers bought the land from “private owners” in 2013 for Rs 40 lakh.
“It is tribal land and does not belong to the forest department,” said GT Chauhan, deputy conservator of forests, Thane. “Since forest land is adjacent to it, people assumed that this too was forest land. We have verified our records and it has come to light that the land belong to a private owner.”
Courtesy:
Nazia Sayed @timesgroup.com
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=MIRRORNEW&BaseHref=MMIR/2013/04/08&PageLabel=3&EntityId=Ar00300&ViewMode=HTML
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