PUNE: The city police’s Economic Offences Wing is probing a 70-year-old land developer from Shivane, accused of forming a cooperative housing society in 1990 and collecting funds till recently from 218 members promising them flats on a land at Ramnagar in Warje, secured from the state government on a concessional rate.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has prima facie pegged the cheating amount at Rs200 crore. The cheating, according to the police, occurred between 1990 and February this year. Assistant commissioner of police (EOW) Vijaykumar Palsule told TOI, “We started conducting an inquiry into the case last year and on Monday a formal FIR was registered against the chairperson and his accomplice.”
One of the society members (40), a resident of Moshi, lodged a complaint with the EOW. According to the police, the chairperson had taken an interim relief from a city court, barring police from taking any coercive action against him for 72 hours after registering the case. The police on Tuesday morning served him a notice.
According to the police, the land developer floated a housing scheme for people from the nomadic tribe community in 1990. He said the scheme’s members would get flats after basic payment of the land cost. He also formed a cooperative society for the purpose and the society decided to buy land with the help of the state government in Ramnagar in Warje.
According to the police, the chairman and other office-bearers of the society negotiated with the state government and bought 1.76 hectares of land. In early 2000, 396 flats were built but 218 members did not receive the flats despite making full payment, the police said.
