Search reveals several top bureaucrats also own flats in Singh's Bandra building
The search and attachment of properties owned by former Mumbai Congress chief Kripashankar Singh during investigation into a disproportionate assets case filed against him has led to a sensational discovery.
The search and attachment of properties owned by former Mumbai Congress chief Kripashankar Singh during investigation into a disproportionate assets case filed against him has led to a sensational discovery.
At one of his premises in a posh Bandra (east) building, the police found property documents revealing that several top bureaucrats and senior policemen also own sprawling flats in it.
Sources in the police have told HT that Singh's apartment in Shree Sai Prasad housing society at Nirmal Nagar was among the 19 of his properties searched by the police on Friday as per the high court's order. During the search, the police team learnt that Singh is also the custodian of the society's office located on the ground floor, and decided to search it too.
The ownership documents which were found in the office show that that several top bureaucrats, which comprise retired and serving IAS and IPS officers, also own flats in the building. One of the bureaucrats is under the CBI scanner in connection with the Adarsh cooperative housing society scam. Similarly, a senior IPS officer who owns a flat in the building recently figured in another suspected housing scam involving a tower that has been allegedly constructed on land protected for its proximity to a defence installation in Worli.
Sources said Singh and the bureaucrats, along with the other members of the society, had formed a cooperative society and had availed the land from the state government. The construction of the building was completed in 2006-07, and the society members were allotted flats admeasuring 2,000 sq ft - each floor has just two flats and their market price is between Rs3.5 to Rs4 crore.
While Singh resides in his flat, most of the bureaucrats, who have been allotted official accommodation in south Mumbai, have put theirs on rent.