18 August,2023 06:58 AM IST | Mumbai | Priti Khuman Thakur
The building plans by the architect were forged for Rudransh apartment complex, say cops
In 2019, the brains behind the Rs 3,000-crore house-of-cards submitted to the VVCMC building plans of Rudransh Apartments designed by well-known architect K D Mistry. The civic body, which had given all necessary clearances back then, has only now realised that Mistry had passed away in 2016. Now, his son demands strict action against the conmen for using his father's name to dupe thousands of innocent families.
The Virar police have so far arrested five men, including Prashant Patil, the mastermind, for erecting 55 residential societies in the jurisdiction of the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) using forged documents and sold flats to nearly 3,500 families. While checking the documents, the cops noticed that the building plan of Rudransh Apartments in Virar East was "designed by K D Mistry".
Prashant Patil
A police officer said, "In 2019, the accused gang forged documents and made counterfeit building plans for Rudransh complex. These building plans were made using the name of well-known Virar-based architect, K D Mistry, who had passed away in 2016." Senior Inspector Rajendra Kamble of Virar police station confirmed the latest findings of the investigation.
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"We asked the municipal corporation for Mistry's death certificate and confirmed that he had passed away in 2016. The accused individuals created these documents in 2019. We have also verified these documents with the municipal corporation and found them to be forged. The accused forged the documents using Mistry's project planning drawings for other buildings," Kamble added.
Speaking with mid-day, Atul said, "My father passed away in 2016, but these accused individuals created fake documents, including stamps, letterheads and maps of Rudransh society in 2019, in my father's name. They took advantage of his name. The police should take action against them for using my father's name and forging documents."
Meanwhile, the Virar police have registered additional FIRs against the owner and developer of Gurukrupa building at Kargil Nagar, Ganesh Chowk, in Virar East. The accused individuals constructed two different societies in the name of Gurukrupa.
In this case, the police have booked Nizamuddin Patel of Sudarshan Developers, Sanjyal Lopis (owner), Prashant Patil, Dilip Adakhale, Macchindra Vahanmane, who runs Devendra Maji, and Mayur Enterprises. The police have also sent letters to MahaRERA, the deputy registrar and the banks concerned, asking to record their statements at the police station.
Multiple VVMC teams are, meanwhile, cross-referencing survey numbers of the remaining buildings with the permissions obtained, and visiting each site to confirm if the construction matches the documentation. Once the illegalities are identified, the society members will be informed and a police complaint will be filed, said sources.
Police sources told mid-day that the VVCMC has been facing difficulties in providing them with the building names due to their poor record-keeping practice and alleged involvement of their officials in accepting bribes from crooked builders and developers.
Rs 3,000 cr
Scale of the housing scam
