Following an FIR against Omkar developers alleging irregularities in procuring land and building flats under the slum rehabilitation scheme, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has recorded statements of
Following an FIR against Omkar developers alleging irregularities in procuring land and building flats under the slum rehabilitation scheme, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has recorded statements of 15 people till date. The developer’s Alta Monde project in Malad is also under the scanner.
The EOW recently registered an offence of cheating against the city developers, following a preliminary inquiry held after a resident Jaynarayan Tiwari (35) alleged that in 2007, the builders encroached upon seven tenements (including his) in the area. In 2015, Mr Tiwari informed the police that each tenement was worth Rs 2 crore, amounting to a total of Rs 14 crore. After the initial investigation, the officers registered a case alleging that the developers had cheated the state and the residents of nearly Rs 415 crore.
When contacted, the EOW officials explained that the builder obtained the land and developed the project as a slum rehabilitation scheme, which led to him getting many benefits. “The FIR states that he got nearly 8,8,03,515 square feet of floor space index (FSI) which, if it hadn’t been a slum land, the developer would have to buy from the state at a premium, which in this case was Rs 401.78 crore,” said an officer.
Before the said project came up, the land was home to nearly 300 tenements of the Janu Bhoy Nagar. While the complainant said that in 2001 a tribunal constituted by the Slum Improvement Board Act denotified the area as a slum, the developers claim that it was a slum area. “We are looking at whether any SRA officials may have been involved in getting a denotified slum to be declared as a notified slum,” said an officer.
The police has till date spoken to SRA officials, and many residents too. “Residents’ approval is required to let a builder develop such a project. But in this case, many residents who have never stayed there have given valid documents proving their residence in the said area and giving their approval. We are probing the role of the chairman and members of the society of the said area too,” an officer said.
The FIR also names three people from the Janu Bhoy Nagar Society — Gulab Gavhane (secretary), Magan Tak (president), Pratiraj Yadav (convenor) and an unidentified director of Omkar Real Estate Developers. Officials said that investigation was still on and arrests were likely soon.
Previously, when contacted, Omkar developers had said, “The area in question (S No 282 CTS 821) was always a slum area. We are developing the area under Development Control Regulation 33 (10) and the scheme was implemented following all process, including survey by competent authorities in slum area, issuance of annexure II, letter of intent etc.”
