Mumbai: In the matter where Kalachowki police booked 11 people for allegedly duping a freelance Art Director to the tune of Rs. 30 lakh by assuring him a flat in the Cotton Green area, the Bombay High Court accepted the anticipatory bail plea applied by three of the 11 accused.
In this plea, the trio alleged that the police officials falsely implicated the case. While the police claimed to be the natural owner as the tenant, the court said the property (building) is owned by the Bombay Port Trust and the applicant, ie., the accused holds the leasehold rights, during the hearing.
In the FIR, registered by the police in April, police charged the accused - Suresh Gaikwad, his mother Kusum Gaikwad and their partner Devidayal Gupta for the charges of cheating among others. Gupta introduced the complainant - Hitesh Khuman - to Gaikwad who said he wanted to sell his flat - Lakshmi Building at Zakaria Bandar Road in Cotton Green - and took Rs. 30 lakh, allegedly, without providing the house or the money back. Khuman in the FIR said that he later discovered that the building belonged to BPT and the room was under the possession of Mumbai Police.
Before the police of Kalachowki could arrest Gaikwad and Gupta, they applied for ACB where they said Mumbai Police falsely implicated the FIR against them. It said that the FIR was premeditated at the behest of the complainant and the police - who allegedly resided in the building for over 50 years. Gaikwad and Gupta’s plea called Mumbai Police as trespassers on the property, which was accepted by the court.
The court said that prima facie the matter appears to be civil and the entire case hinges on documentary evidence - which the police are yet to submit to the court. Advocate Chandrabhushan Shukla, representing Gaikwad and Gupta said they will be initiating legal action against the Kalachowki police officials for, “unlawfully occupying the applicants' premises and will take several steps to reclaim the property.”
The Kalachowki police are currently tight-lipped about the matter. However, police sources have revealed that their new plan of action is to find out documents they signed with the BPT which will prove them as natural owners of the property and to find out more ‘victims’ like Khuman - who were cheated by Gaikwad on similar pretences. The court has asked Gaikwad and Gupta to cooperate with the police in the interrogation.
