Mumbai: Allegations fly as fruit market vs playground dispute escalates

Apna Fruit Market in Shimpoli, Borivli. Pics/Nimesh Dave

In the Shimpoli area of Borivli, there is a complaint regarding the establishment of a massive fruit market on a plot that is supposedly reserved for a playground. The complainant, Manish Dube, filed a complaint against Apna Fruit Market in May and raised the issue with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), seeking action against the encroachment. However, this action has landed him in trouble.

The president of the fruit market, Rajiv Mishra, and one of the vendors, filed an extortion case against Dube and two others, Chandrakant Gupta and his brother Jitendra, on July 11, 2023. The vendors claimed that Dube and the Gupta brothers demanded money from them to drop the encroachment complaint.

Following the FIR, Jitendra was arrested by the Borivli police, but the court later released him on bail on July 21. Dube and Chandrakant have not been arrested yet and have applied for anticipatory bail, which is scheduled for a hearing on July 25.

In a statement to mid-day, Mishra asserted that the complaint is false since the fruit market is established on private land and not on a playground reservation. He mentioned having evidence, such as telephone call recordings, to support his extortion complaint.

However, Chandrakant Gupta, one of the accused, refuted the extortion charges, claiming that he has never had any contact with Mishra. "I am falsely implicated in this case. Raju Mishra and Vijay Mishra are brothers. The Mishra brothers are being vindictive because I filed a complaint against the illegal construction of the Sun Beach resort. The Bombay High Court has also ordered the demolition of the resort. Vijay Mishra is not an owner of the resort, but he manages the day-to-day administration of the resort. The Mishra brothers are upset because I am pursuing an illegal construction case against the resort. They (Mishra brothers) have filed false cases in an attempt to make me withdraw my complaint against Sun Beach," Chandrakant Gupta said.

The Mishra brothers denied Gupta's claims and stated that the extortion case has no connection to the Sun Beach resort complaint. Vijay Mishra said, "The accused are professional complainants with the aim to extort money and stringent action should be taken against them."

The accused in the extortion case have also questioned how Mishra came to know about the identity of the complainant who reported the encroachment to the BMC.
"Revealing the complainant's name is not only illegal but also poses a threat to their life," quipped Gupta. They demanded that the BMC clarify the legality of the fruit market or immediately demolish the structures if they were built on a plot reserved as a playground.

Ninad Sawant, senior inspector at Borivli police station, said, "Based on the complaint filed by Mishra, the police have registered an FIR. The
investigation is ongoing in the case."

When asked about whether the ground is reserved for a playground, Sawant said, "The BMC has to clarify the reservation status of the ground. The police have no role in this."

July 11
Day the case was filed