Dahyabhai Sutaria

Bhupat Lukhi

Mira Road

Kashimira Ceramic Products

Tanvi Constructions

Sanjay Gandhi National Park

MahaRera

Osama bin Laden

9/11 attacks

Maharashtra Pollution Control Board

FIR names diamond tradersand, besides their partner Sangeeta, after a highrise project inis stalled.Around 500 people, many of whom had paid up to 85% advance money in a housing project in Mira Road, fear they’ll neither get their dream homes nor their money back, as construction has remained stalled for the last four years.The only glimmer of hope for these people is the Thane Police, which last month took over the investigation from Kashimira Police, and filed a first information report against realty firmLLP, run by diamond traders Dahyabhai Sutaria and Bhupat Lukhi, advocate Vijaykumar Hegde, and Hegde’s wife Sangeeta, who also controls a realty firm called. The FIR names Sutaria, Lukhi, and Sangeeta but not Hegde, who said he was the non-executive director of Tanvi Constructions.According to the complaint filed by the flat buyers, Kashimira Ceramic in 2010 launched one of the biggest projects in the suburbs – the 22-storey Tanvi Eminence Phase I & II in Kashimira, Mira Road (E) – with a promise to hand over 400 flats of one and two-BHK in Phase I in 2013, and 250 flats in Phase II in 2014.When the work got stalled in 2013, work on the project’s Phase I was completed till the 10th floor, and there was no sign of Phase II, the flat buyers said in their complaint. Realising they had been “duped”, residents held several meetings with the builders, and during each of these meetings, the builders only gave them assurances, the complaint said. One of the flat buyers, Asawari Gandhawar, 54, a housewife from Charkop, said she paid Rs 35 lakh in 2012 for a two-BHK flat whose total cost was Rs 58 lakh.“First the builders told us they had run into problems with environment department because the project was in the vicinity of the. Then we found that the builders had a problem among themselves and one of them had filed a case against his partners,” she said.Another hassled flat buyer, 50-year-old Tarun Shah, who works for a company headquartered in Japan, said he had paid an advance for a two-BHK flat on the 14th floor in Phase I.“I stay in a 350 sq ft house in Borivali, and because of the flat’s size, my 82-year-old mother cannot live with me. I was planning to bring my mother to our new house but I don’t think the project’s ever going to be completed,” said Shah, who took a loan of Rs 5 lakh to pay Rs 24 lakh advance amount.The flat buyers have also written to the Chief Minister’s Office and regulatory authorityseeking justice. The flat buyers have alleged that the builders, while getting their project registered with MahaRera as per the guidelines, listed the completion date as 2021. “That’s four years from now, after we have already wait for four years,” said a flat buyer, Nilesh Thakkar, who had paid an advance for aone-BHK flat in Phase I, and for a two-BHK flat in Phase II.“I paid the advance money in 2012, and after several stormy meetings, was given allotment letter in June this year. These people are cheats,” Thakkar, who submitted a complaint to the offices of the chief minister and chief secretary Sumit Mallick on Wednesday, said. The police confirmed that prima facie, nearly 500 people appeared to have been left in the lurch by the builders. Senior Inspector Venkat Andhale from the Thane Police (Rural) said, “Preliminary investigation revealed the builders took payments from home buyers and have left the project incomplete. We have recorded statements of 200 people, and it seems more than 500 people have been left in the lurch. The builders’ bank accounts have been frozen even as we continue to record statements on a daily basis as more people are coming forward.”Sutaria remained unavailable for comment despite several attempts. Meanwhile, Sangeeta blamed her “matrimonial problems” for finding herself “in this mess”. She said, “Our firm, Tanvi Constructions, is a partner of Kashimira Ceramics. Just because my husband Vijaykumar is a lawyer, and Sutaria and Lukhi travel frequently due to their diamond business, I was the one available for signing the documents. I have been made a scapegoat when actually I have nothing to do with the project,” she said.Her husband Vijaykumar, however, blamed Sangeeta as much as Sutaria and Lukhi. “I am a non-executive director not involved in day-to-day affairs of the company. Sutaria and Lukhi reserved nearly 150 flats for their friends from the diamond business. If my wife has made a mistake, she has to face the music.’s son was in America whenhappened, but they didn’t blame him for bin Laden’s activities,” Hegde said, defending himself.Giving details of the ill-fated project, Hegde said it first ran into problems in 2011when all construction in the vicinity of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park was stopped following notices from the. “In 2015, the environmental clearances came through. But by then, Sutaria, Lukhi, and Sangeeta had a dispute. The court has allowed us a time of two months to resolve the problems in the project, and senior counsel HN Thakkar has been appointed as mediator. We had our first meeting on Wednesday and we hope we can resolve this,” Hegde said.Mirror managed to contact Lukhi late Thursday. He said he had returned from Belgium only on Wednesday, and added the “problem could be sorted out within a week”. He said, “Partners making allegations against each other is not going to solve the problem. I was not present for the meeting with the mediator as I returned on Wednesday night. But I am confident that if everyone lets go, and don’t create an ego problem, we will able to resolve this impasse within a week with the help of the mediator.” Lukhi further said he had already sold his 33% share in Kashimira Ceramic to a Borivali builder in March this year.