The accused had duped over 20 people to the tune of Rs 10 crore between 2010 and 2014 by selling flats in a Kandivli project that was never constructed
Babu (behind) and Mohammed Badgujar, two of the five arrested
It's the age-old con. Developers sell flats and promise timely delivery, but when the time comes, they bail out. On Saturday night, the Malad police arrested five such developers who cheated over 20 people under the pretext of selling them flats in a project that never took off and duped them of over Rs 10 crore. The accused were arrested from various parts of Malad and produced before a holiday court that remanded them in one-day police custody.
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Babu (behind) and Mohammed Badgujar, two of the five arrested
The arrested accused have been identified as Denesh Nahata, Bipin Sanklecha, Kamal Vyaas (from Sanjog Developers) along with Mohammad Badgujar and Babu Badgujar from Soni and Associates.
According to officials, between 2010 and 2014, the five accused drew in people with the claim that they were jointly developing a property at New Link Road in Kandivli and took bookings for the same. They assured their victims that possession would be given within three years of receiving the booking amount. They even gave out allotment numbers for flats. However, once the promised 36 months passed, the builders started avoided their calls and messages. After over four years passed with no development in sight, 16 victims approached the Malad police on April 29, 2015 and registered a complaint against the developers.
Victims speak
One of the complainants, Ketan Jasani (39) said, “I was lured in by their low rates. I booked four flats at a total price of Rs 2.19 crore. Till date, I have also paid a total sum of R1.19 crore in cash and cheques. The builder allotted me flats in a building that is still not constructed.”
The police investigation took over a year and finally culminated in a sweeping arrest of all five accused on Saturday night.
Police says
“We have arrested the five accused. The FIR was registered last year, but the police was investigating the matter till yesterday and finally made the arrests. They were produced before the holiday court and remanded in one-day police custody,” said a police official from the Malad police station.
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