Mumbai: Malad high-rise residents fear for lives, demand action against D-man

Members of Auris Serenity Tower-1 had met with Malad police officers on Saturday to discuss the issues they are facing due to society chairman Sonu Jalan. File pic

Residents of Auris Serenity Tower-1 in Malad have now urged the Malad police to file a suo motu case against top bookie Sonu Jalan, who is the chairman of the society, for threatening residents, insulting women in the society as well as misappropriation of society funds. They have also sought police protection as Jalan has a criminal background and is said to be a close associate of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

mid-day had on August 30 reported the plight of the residents of 58-storey Auris Serenity, Malad's tallest tower. Three society members had also approached the Malad police and registered complaints against Jalan in the past year, however no action has been taken so far.

Following mid-day's report, Malad cops got in touch with Auris Serenity members, asking them to file complaints against Jalan.

Also read: D-man threatening us with underworld connections: Malad high-rise residents

Society members on Sunday wrote a letter to Malad police asking them to take suo motu action against Jalan. They, however, did not file complaints claiming that they are afraid of possible repercussions, pointing at Jalan's criminal background. They also sought police protection in case of any escalation.

In the letter, the society members thanked the police for reaching out to them and said that they had earlier complained to the police against Jalan over various issues including defaming members on the society notice board, using society WhatsApp group to humiliate women, forcefully entering the house of a resident, threatening a member in the presence of a cop, not issuing NOC to some members to rent out their flats.

They further mentioned that they approached the Slum Redevelopment Authority registrar and the divisional joint registrar in January with respect to various violations under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 and hope to get justice in the matter. The SRA registrar had also conducted an inquiry against the society committee members including Jalan and found irregularities. The letter added, "However, considering the background of chairman Sonu Jalan from the press articles and the various cases registered against him, we feel our families are not safe and we seek police protection for all the residents as we are peace-loving residents. We humbly pray that the police department protects us and our families in case of any escalations."

"We request the police to initiate a suo motu inquiry into this matter as we don't intend to register any FIR, considering the safety and security of our families which is of prime concern to us," the letter further read.

Senior Inspector Ravindra Adane of Malad police station said, "We held a meeting with society members about their problems with society chairman Sonu Jalan on Saturday. I will see the complaint letter, check the facts and will take action accordingly."

Violations by Jalan, committee

As per the residents of Auris Serenity, the provisional committee, of which Jalan is the chief, has been unlawfully collecting transfer charges in the range of Rs 2,00,000 to Rs 4,00,000, instead of Rs 25,000. The provisional committee also spent around Rs 22-Rs 40 lakh, for which no quotations or tenders were placed.

The committee allegedly also illegally passed a resolution for building a society office at a cost of Rs 35,00,000 without approval of BMC, SRA, and Fire Department and completed the construction within 20 days. Moreover, flat owners were forced to pay for the same in the maintenance bills.

They also alleged that the provisional committee has been passing resolutions illegally and threatening residents to stop using lifts saying they would initiate criminal suits against them, thus causing fear and anxiety among members.

Apart from this, the committee headed by Jalan allegedly also appointed new vendors without any intimation to members or providing them with any bank statement, quotation, bills, etc.

mid-day's attempts to reach Jalan went unanswered.