Vasai landslide: Builder held, 4 booked for negligence in incident

The Crime Branch on late Thursday night arrested the absconding builder Ajit Singh owner of Mitwa Realty who is among the six held responsible for the Wednesday landslide in Bhoidapada, Vasai that killed two members of a family-father and daughter.

Two FIRs naming six persons, including the land owner have been charged under Section 304 ( culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC and Sections 52, 53 and 54 of Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act,1966. Singh had fled to Vapi, Gujarat after the mishap as he came to know that the relatives of the victims were to take the bodies of the two victims to the Waliv police station to demand justice.

However, the Crime Branch Unit 2 were tipped off about Singh arriving in Hanumant Nagar, Kandivli(E), and was arrested. When produced before the Vasai court, accused Singh has been remanded to police custody on Friday afternoon.

According to police, accused Singh had purchased the private plot from accused Mary Gracias and constructed the Ekta Welfare Society chawl in 2015. The second FIR was registered against three men Shailesh Nishad, Ratnesh Pandey and Anil Dubey, accused of constructing illegal chawls on government land in the Rajavali area. An unidentified real estate agent has also been booked and all the five accused are absconding.

The police said on the said plot over 1,500 illegal chawl rooms have been built overnight and also sold to people especially from North India for around Rs 5 lakhs each.