The Bandra police have arrested five real estate developers for allegedly cheating a widow of her flat bought in Bandra West in 2005. The arrested persons are partners in Suchit Developers – Lachman Sajnani, Anil Sajnani, Dilip Manghnani, Anant Rane and Vikrant Vaidya.
Despite orders passed by the Bombay High Court and the sessions court, the police initially refused to arrest the accused. They only acted when the advocate of the complainant, Meena Tawrani, 64, approached Commissioner of Police Vivek Phansalkar. After their arrest on Monday, the accused were presented in the sessions court and remanded to police custody till June 28.
As per sources, Lachman Sajnani is the father-in-law of actor Sonnalli Seygall, Anil Sajnani (also director of Bholenath Developers Ltd) is her brother-in-law, and Dilip Manghnani is the owner of Royal Garden, Juhu.
According to the police report, Tawrani’s husband passed away in 2000. She purchased a flat in a project by Suchit Developers next to Jari Mari Mandir in December 2005 for Rs97.10 lakh, of which she paid Rs85 lakh. Her lawyer, Godfrey W Pimenta, said she did not receive possession, despite paying an additional Rs15 lakh in 2015. She and her son approached the Bandra police, who initially classified the matter as a civil dispute and refused to register the FIR.
Tawrani then approached the Bombay High Court, which took a serious view of the matter and directed the police to act. The police registered the FIR on April 2, 2023, but refused to make arrests or probe the case. The FIR was registered under the MPID (Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors) Act, sections 3 and 4, along with sections 420 (cheating and forgery) and 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code.
Tawrani then approached the sessions court, which noted that the Supreme Court guidelines were not followed post-registration of the FIR and issued necessary directions on April 4, 2024, against the non-performance of the police.
When Tawrani contacted the inspector handling the investigation, Sudarshan Gaikwad, he stated that the Deputy Commissioner of Police was not permitting the arrest. The police allegedly did not cooperate with Tawrani, despite several visits and phone calls. Tawrani said, “We seek justice. In 2005, we sold our house to purchase a new one. However, the developers cheated us and we are still living in a rented house.”
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