Mumbai: There is a vertical split in the Kukreja Construction Group, among Mumbai’s largest real estate conglomerates which has built over five million square feet of residential and commercial real estate since the 1950s when it began property development.
The tussle is mainly between brothers Mohan and Sunil Kukreja. Their eldest brother Omprakash Kukreja was gunned down in his office in Chembur on Sep 18, 1995, reportedly by gunmen of the Dawood Ibrahim gang.
Differences between Mohan and Sunil Kukreja have been growing for the past several months with people in the real-estate business talking about them in whispers. Now the fight has taken a new turn with Mohan Kukreja filing a written complaint with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police's Crime Branch against his brother.
The complaint about certain financial dealings of the company has been filed through lawyer Chitra Salunkhe. The Free Press Journal has a copy of the complaint whose receipt has also been acknowledged by the police.
It is learnt that following the filing of the complaint, senior EOW officers called Mohan Kukreja to record his statement after which his brother was also asked by the police to join the investigations.
Mohan Kukreja told The Journal, “I have submitted a slew of documents to the police in support of my contentions. I am waiting for them to register a First Information Report (FIR) and take their investigation to its logical conclusion. Now the ball is in their court.”
Sunil Kukreja, however, described the complaint as “frivolous” and said he had given his explanation for all the statements made against him by his brother. He further said he had submitted “voluminous documents to the investigating officer on each and every allegation made by my brother”.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Sangramsinh Nishandar, who is supervising the investigation, did not respond to messages. It is learnt that the matter has reached the highest echelons of the State Government as the Kukrejas are leading builders of Mumbai. Incidentally, the brothers continue to live in the same bungalow at Khar and share office premises on 11th Road in Chembur.
