Police have registered a case of forgery and corruption against Anand Rao, builder and son-in-law of late Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan, and two former Chief Executive Officers of Maharashtra's Slum Rehabilitation Authority.
Debashish Chakrabarty and Ujjwal Uke, the ex-CEOs of the state agency, had been charged with allowing a "fake" architect and builders to illegally carry out the development work in the slums of Koldongri in suburban Andheri.
Rao and Sameer Jani, directors of Global Buildcon Constructions, have been accused for carrying out construction work in the slums without getting clearance from the Forest and Environment Department. Jani is also one of the prime accused in the multi-crore Telgi fake stamp paper scam.
The case was registered after the Andheri metropolitan magistrate asked the police to investigate the matter and submit the report before it within two months.
According to the complainant, Gangaram Sawant, Global Buildcon along with Tirupathi Balaji Co-operative Housing Society had entered into a Slum Rehabilitation Authority housing project in 2001, under which about 450 families were to be rehabilitated. However, no clearance about the land was obtained from the Forest Ministry.
Sawant also alleged that the SRA, having knowledge of the irregularities, persuaded the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to issue the transfer of development rights.
Chakrabarty, who is now the state's Chief Electoral officer, has rejected all charges. "Whenever a complaint is filed, it is the senior official who is made an accused, hence the FIR has been registered against me," he said.
