Muvattupuzha: As four residential towers at Maradu in Kerala's Ernakulam district are nearing their demolition over violating the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms, the Crime Branch has filed two more cases over the irregularities behind their construction.
The latest cases were filed against Paul Raj, the Managing Director of Alpha Ventures Pvt Ltd, and Sanjeev Mehta, the MD of Jain Housing And Constructions Ltd company.
Former Maradu panchayat secretary Mohammed Ashraf, and former panchayat junior superintendent P E Joseph are also named as accused in these cases. The Crime Branch had earlier filed a case over the irregularities in the construction of the buildings and arrested the duo for giving permission to build the flats. Jayaram Naik, who was the former Upper-Division Clerk at the erstwhile Maradu panchayat, has also been named as accused. He has not been arrested.
Meanwhile, a probe report by Kerala Police's Crime Branch stated that two of the four properties set to be razed soon are partially built on government land encroached upon by the builders.
Crime Branch registered the cases based on a complaint by Philo Immanuel, who was a resident of Jain Coral Cove, and Susan Mathew of the Serene Apartment.
As per the case, the builders had colluded with the former panchayat officials to construct the flats despite knowing that it was in violation of the CRZ norms and that the land was marked as a wetland in the records.
Remand period extended
The Muvattupuzha Vigilance court on Tuesday did not consider the bail plea of Sani Francis, owner of Holy Faith Construction company, and former panchayat officials Mohammed Ashraf and P E Joseph.
The probe team has taken the three accused in custody.
Though the three were presented in court on Tuesday after their custody period ended, the Crime Branch filed the other two cases, arraigning them as accused. Therefore, the court did not consider their bail pleas and remanded them till November 5. Their bail pleas would be considered on Wednesday.
The two new cases were registered based on the information received during the questioning of the officials. Their role in the illegal constructions of the two flats is now clear. Both the officials have been slapped with the same charges.
The remand report pointed out that the officials were guilty of dereliction of duty and had made illegal financial gains through this.
Encroachment too
The remand report made it clear that unoccupied government land (porambboku) was encroached to build flats at Maradu. About 17.297 cents of land was encroached to build Jain Coral Cove and 10 cents of Porammbokku to build the Alpha Serene Apartments.
The Crime Branch found that the encroachment was done with the knowledge of the officials. The probe officers informed the High Court that they have decided to investigate in detail about the sale-and-buying of flats at Maradu. Complainant Susan Mathew said that she had given Rs 33.17 lakh to buy the flat at Alpha Serene. Another complainant Philo Emmanuel said that she had shelled out Rs 1.18 crore for the flat at Jain Coral Cove. As most of the residents were reluctant to divulge the full amount spent on the flat, a detailed investigation was needed, the court was told.