TADA accused Arif Lakhani, involved in explosive landings off Gujarat coast, has been terrorising residents of Versova for eviction and land grabbing of properties with the local police allegedly remaining mute spectators.
The latest victim, Surya Narayan Singh, Kangana Ranaut’s yoga guru, has been in hiding after threats from Lakhani to vacate his Yari Road flat gifted by the actor as guru dakshina.
Lakhani with his men even thrashed the yoga practitioner in front of the police patrolling team and threatened to implicate him in fake cases last month, which the neighbours recorded on mobile phones and submitted to Additional Commissioner of Police (West Region) Vinayak Deshmukh. “He ordered the Versova police to take immediate action but the cops pressured me not to pursue the matter. The police inspector advised me to avoid confrontation with gangsters and bomb blast accused for my safety and settle the dispute amicably,” said Surya Narayan Singh.
The Free Press Journal accessed the long history of criminal cases of kidnappings, land grab and forcible eviction of properties by Lakhani and family in the last 10 years with no action by the police and the civic administration. He was arrested by the Gujarat police in the 1993 Gosabara RDX and arms landing case at Porbandar and served some time in Sabarmati jail.
Lakhani has grabbed the ground floor shop no 15 of the upscale Benzer Apartment on Yari Road, making further encroachments to illegally occupy the lobby and adjacent BMC garden for an unauthorised fashion boutique. The K-Ward office had issued a show-cause notice for it on April 11 this year. The building proposal department of the BMC demolished the illegal structure after giving notice.
Apprehending that Singh would complain to the civic administration, Lakhani barged into the first floor apartment during an online yoga class and thrashed him black and blue. “My family dialled 100 and called for help, but Lakhani and his men beat me up in front of the police and threatened to evict the flat gifted to me by my pupil,” complained Singh.
Lakhani was also arrested in the 2013 kidnapping of Bandra builder Parvez Lakdawala son by Mumbai police and demanding ransom of Rs 1 crore.
The Versova police refused to comment on the case and denied supporting any illegal activities in their jurisdiction. “We will take action as per law,” said senior police inspector Siraj Inamdar.
