Vasai-Virar housing scam: Day after expose, blame game begins

The illegal under-construction buildings in VVCMC. Pics/Hanif Patel

Even as mid-day continues to blow the lid off the multi-crore house-of-cards scam, Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) officials have been coming under increasing scrutiny. A number of builders, land owners and members of the chawl mafia have been booked at various police stations, but experts believe that the FIRs, filed under sections of the IPC and Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act, are an eyewash as civic officials have not followed proper procedures.

I am wondering why the municipal corporation is taking no proper action against the bogus builders who are mushrooming in the jurisdiction of VVCMC. Civic officials are registering First Information Reports (FIRs) against bogus builders and their gang members only because cops have handed them a bunch of files which they confiscated by Virar police after apprehending [alleged mastermind Prashant] Patil and his gang," said advocate Rahul Singh, who is one among the whistleblowers who have been highlighting the illegal encroachment in Vasai taluka for years.

A senior officer in the Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar (MBVV) police told mid-day that nearly two dozen FIRs have been registered in connection with the scam. "After registering multiple FIRs under the MRTP Act and Indian Penal Code, VVCMC officials should have immediately approached the Vasai court to file caveat petitions to stop bogus builders from easily getting a stay order to prevent the demolition of illegal buildings," Singh said.

"If a caveat petition is filed, the court will not make an ex-parte decision to pass a stay order. But, the VVCMC has not filed a single caveat petition to date in connection with these FIRs. Thus, the intentions of civic officials are questionable," Singh added. When mid-day contacted the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation chief Anilkumar Pawar to learn if his officials had filed a caveat petition in the court, he declined to comment.

Constructions continue…

After mid-day highlighted how the civic officials turned a blind eye to unauthorised buildings in the past few years, Pawar constituted a 10-member enquiry committee but despite much hue and cry, illegal constructions are still mushrooming on the VVCMC's watch. Singh attributed this to bogus builders having no fear of the law of the land. "VVCMC officials take improper action to protect encroachers," the whistleblower alleged.

Civic sources acknowledged that a number of unauthorised buildings exist in Vasai-Virar, but said the "municipal commissioner has failed to pass an order to put up notice boards on these buildings". Singh told mid-day that the civic body had identified most of the illegal buildings constructed by Patil and his gang. "But not a single notice board has been placed in front of any of these buildings," he added.

"Buyers are still coming to purchase dream homes in Vasai-Virar and Nalasopara areas. If unauthorised buildings have been identified by the municipal corporation, I wonder why no notice boards have been installed to date. The municipal corporation's inaction is causing gullible home-buyers to fall prey to conmen," Singh said. Bogus builders have also encroached upon tribal land in Vasai East to construct unauthorised buildings.

"In the first place, it was government land which was given to tribals as mentioned in the 7/12. But the plot on survey number 127 was illegally acquired by bogus people and the scammers gave power of attorney (PoA) to someone else and 13 buildings were constructed on the piece of land measuring around 70,000 square feet," Singh said.

Prashant Patil, the mastermind of the housing scam

"But the municipal corporation registered FIR only five buildings and no action has been taken against the rest of the buildings. Also, the construction work is underway as the builders have no fear of law," he added. "The builders generally present dummy candidates to make PoA so that the prime accused aren't entangled in legal complexities," said Singh.

Vasai-Virar municipal corporation on defensive

When contacted, the Deputy Municipal Commissioner Kishore Gavas claimed that the assistant municipal commissioner had filed caveats in all the 36 FIRs registered in connection with the multi-crore scam; but he failed to provide any proof related to the same.

"I am a deputy municipal commissioner, so I mean what I am saying. Our two AMCs are here before me and they have told me that caveats have been filed," Gavas said. Regarding the installation of notice boards on unauthorised buildings, he said, "We have instructed all our assistant municipal corporators to place boards near all the illegal buildings against which we have registered FIRs. The boards will be placed outside them very soon."

"If we find any agents selling flats illegally in these societies, we will register FIRs against them. If anyone removes these notice boards, we will also book against them. We are taking action in this matter," he added.

"We are working in 24x7 shifts and visiting all buildings to verify them. Our officers are at the police station until 1 am in the morning to register FIRs. The action is in process. All the FIRs will be registered in the coming week. After this, we will start taking action," he added. Gavas further added that the civic officials have been working round the clock to register FIRs and have been staying at the police station till the wee hours. Asked how the massive unauthorised buildings were constructed if the civic officials were working ‘round the clock', Gavas requested mid-day, "Please write something positive about us. We have been working very hard."

Regarding the delay in action against the rest of the unauthorised buildings, Gavas said, "We can't take direct action there are no societies at many of the places our officers have visited and they are open land. Due to this, we are facing difficulties in finding these illegal buildings. Most of the buildings have been verified and the process of registering an FIR is underway."

Meanwhile, a senior police officer told this reporter that the cops have widened their investigation. "Illegal buildings were not only constructed in the jurisdiction of VVCMC but also on government land encroached upon by bogus builders that revenue officials should have protected," he said.

Rs 9,000 cr
Potential scale of scam

36
No of FIRs registered in scam