Developer Samir Bhojwani, who has been arrested in a Rs 300 crore land grabbing case has landed in fresh trouble after the sessions court rejected his bail application on Friday. Bhojwani has been facing allegations of usurping yesteryear superstar Dilip Kumar’s bungalow at Pali Hill and also of committing forgery to show ownership of two other big pieces of land in the same area, one of which houses late filmmaker Nasir Hussain’s bungalow.
The allegation has been levelled in the latest police report filed in the Mumbai Sessions Court which was initially to oppose Bhoijwani’s anticipatory bail application after EOW registered the offence in which Dilip Kumar’s wife and yesteryear actor – Saira Banu is the complainant.
The report submitted by the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai police’s Crime Branch says they got the information about two above mentioned properties after they sought information from the registration office at Old Customs House. The agency then sought a report from the regional registration office at Andheri, and was told that there was a difference in the two sets of documents – one seized by them from Bhojwani’s office and the other set with the registration office.
The plot on which late filmmaker Nasir Hussain’s (actor producer Aamir Khan’s father) bungalow stands is over 16000 sq. ft and the other plot houses a building called ‘Shamshiba’. This piece of land, which is adjoining to the plot on which actor Dilip Kumar’s bungalow stands, is over 21,000. sq.ft. Both documents, though executed in 1994, were allegedly registered in 2002.
The EOW report also mentions a complaint filed by Panna Khatau, 77, wife of late industrialist Sunit Khatau who was shot dead on a busy road near the Mahalaxmi Race Course way back in 1994.
The complaint says that Bhojwani, in connivance with three of her relatives, got the plot of land housing Dilip Kumar’s Pali Hill bungalow transferred in his father Narain’s name.
One of the applicant Divyakant’s great grandfather Mulraj Khatau created a private trust namely Seth Mulraj Khatau Trust in the period between 1917-1919. He had five sons and all the five were trustees of the same trust. Four out of the five sons died before 1983 and only one son identified as Chandrakant survived and remained in the trust till his death in 1988.
Panna Khatau, a descendant of Mulraj Khatau has been disputing Bhojwani’s ownership claim to the property since 2014 after he started troubling Dilip Kumar over the ownership of the property. What seems to be a case of land grabbing now has emerged to be a game of fraud and forgery which was initiated years ago.
Mulraj had entrusted various immovable properties to this trust, which were to be divided in five equal parts among his five sons. Mulraj passed away in 1930 and as per the trust deed, claims Panna’s affidavit, the trust was supposed to hold these properties till the death of Mulraj’s last surviving son.
According to this affidavit dated August 25, 2014, Chandrakant was Mulraj’s last surviving son, who died on October 11, 1988. “The trust deed provided for the share of each of his (Mulraj’s) sons to go to his male issues (sons), and to be divided upon the death of the last surviving son, who in this case was Chandrakant. Thus, the properties ought to have been divided upon the death of Chandrakant,” the affidavit reads.
After his death a document was falsely prepared showing that since 1985 Abhay Khatau, Hiten Khatau and Mahendra Khatau were appointed as trustees. False documents were prepared on behalf of Chandrakant in which he was pledging his share of properties to Narain Bhojwani. The documents bore the signatures of Sunil Khatau and other trust members. It was also shown that Rs 25,000 cash was paid to each of the trustees in the year 1980. Also stamp papers of the year 1986 were used to prepare documents of conveyance without any date as if they were executed by the previous trustees and they were used to prepare the deed of confirmation in the year 1994. No one came from the side of the trustees to confirm the execution.
Again in 2002 the documents were registered fraudulently using fake stamps and forged signatures. The stamps were later destroyed. Same process was used to grab the Rs 300 crore property in Malad too in which Bhojwani is facing a second FIR.
The applicants (Panna and her three daughters) are the legal heirs of the beneficiary under the said Deed of Settlement (of Mulraj Khatau trust) and entitled to share of properties including the Suit property. The applicants have not at any time given any consent for alienation of the Suit property at any time, reads the affidavit.
DCP Parag Manere (EOW) said, “ His bail plea has been rejected and the case is still under investigation.”
Meanwhile Chirag Shah, who represents Saira Banu confirming the story said, “We are happy that the truth is coming out now and have full faith in the judiciary.”
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