Mira-Bhayandar: Two more people including one of the kingpins have been arrested by officials from the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) for their alleged involvement in the fake allotment of flats scam in the Basic Services to Urban Poor (BSUP) housing project in Kashimira.
While the kingpin Ashish Ramnagina Chauhan was apprehended from Surat, his accomplice Bhupesh Kurlawala, who is said to be contractual staffer hired to conduct a survey of eligible beneficiaries, was held from Mira Road.
Buyers lured by boasting about connections with high-ranking officials
Six people who had already been arrested for duping scores of people by offering them flats in the housing project are currently out on bail. Initial investigations revealed the involvement of the gang members who would first find a needy flat buyer and lure them by boasting about their connections with high-ranking officials. The accused reportedly asked anywhere between Rs 7-10 lakh. Once they received the money, they would give them forged documents like ration cards having the address of the tenement and the slum survey list with the name of the victim as a potential beneficiary.
The fraud came to light after a 58-year-old man living in Dahisar registered a complaint at the Kashimira police station stating that he was cheated of Rs7 lakh by the racketeers in 2015 under the guise of facilitating allotment of a flat in the housing scheme launched by the Central government to enhance the living standards of the urban poor. The case was later handed over to the EOW for further investigations. While several other people who were duped in a similar manner have come forward to register their complaints, it is suspected that the number of victims could run into hundreds as the gang has been active since 2015. It has also come to light that the accused were in possession of official lists of allotted flats and other documents related to actual beneficiaries, indicating an inside hand in the crime.
What is the BSUP scheme?
The MBMC had identified two slum clusters – Janta Nagar and Kranti Nagar – to construct 4,136 housing units with a carpet area of 279 sq ft per unit in 2009. However, due to inordinate delays the Central government reduced the number of units from 4,136 to 2,160. Ironically, only 473 slum dwellers have been rehabilitated in the lingering project as thousands of other eligible beneficiaries continue to live in transit accommodations. The gang also took advantage of this delay and uncertainty looming over the completion of the project.
