Mumbai: Developers arrested for denying possession to 34 homebuyers, 10 years after they booked flats

Buying a house is one of the most important milestones in life for over a billion Indians, and owning a house in a city like Mumbai or Delhi is a dream come true. About 20,000 Homebuyers waiting to move into their flats in Noida recently found some respite when Mumbai-based Suraksha Group got NCLT's nod to acquire the bankrupt Jaypee Infratech.

But now 34 people who bought flats in Mumbai's Mulund, have filed a complaint against city-based Nirmal Lifestyle, after being denied access to their homes.

Locked out despite paying

• Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing has arrested developers Dharmesh and Rajeev Jain of Nirmal Lifestyle after they duped homebuyers.

• The 34 flat owners had paid for houses in three projects called Olympia, Panorama and Spirit, more than a decade back in 2011.

• But after not getting possession of their homes, they filed complaints against the Jains, who have been sent to police custody till May 3, 2023.

The Jains in deeper trouble

• Apart from the FIR filed by these buyers, another one was filed in December last year by those who bought flats in other projects built by Nirmal.

• Despite having housing complexes across Mumbai, the builders haven't been able to hand over possession because of financial trouble.

• Its lenders, including the Bank of Baroda have also approached NCLT against Nirmal Developers, over unpaid dues worth hundreds of crores.