Property war rips this family apart

Woman and girls all over the country tied rakhis on the wrists of their brothers and received gifts from them on Rakshabandhan, but 52-year-old Kusum Harsora, a US-based architect, spent Thursday pursuing a complaint against one of her brothers, Pradeep (48), who she said had circulated an SMS among his friends calling her a high-profile call girl.

Home truths: Kusum returned from the US when she learnt Pradeep (insert) was allegedly denying their mother Pushpa food and medicines. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Kusum and her mother allege that Pradeep was harassing her to drive her away so that he could grab the family property worth Rs 300 crore. Kusum, a commercial airline pilot before she turned to architecture, returned from the US to live in Mahalaxmi when she learnt Pradeep was allegedly denying their mother food and medicines.

family matters: Kusum Harsora with her mother Pushpa and brothers Vijay (right) and Jitendra at their residence at Mahalaxmi. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Calls at odd hours
A resident of Summer Villa on Bhulabhai Desai Road in Mahalaxmi, Kusum said that despite facing social stigma she had come out in the open against her brother to teach him a lesson.

"I have been going through this trauma for the past two years and in this span I have received around 40 calls at odd hours of the day," Kusum said. "Though some of the callers were unidentified, a few of them introduced themselves with genuine names."

Kusum said one of her callers was a former top cop.

"Surprisingly, one of them (callers) was a retired assistant commissioner of police," she said. "All the calls were for sex chat and they were mistaking me for a high-profile prostitute."

She said she learnt from some of the callers that her brother had given them her number.

"When I started meeting some of the callers to find out the cause, I was told they had received my number from my brother," she said.

Hot property
When the mental torture got too much to bear, on July 31 Kusum's mother Pushpa (77) finally approached several police authorities and gave a written complaint (copy with MiD DAY) against her son Pradeep, saying he was harassing her to usurp her husband's property worth Rs 300 crore.

The complaint was made to the Commissioner of Police, the Deputy Commissioner of Police and the Assistant Commissioner of Police of the relevant zone.

Besides daughter Kusum, the widowed Pushpa has three sons, Pradeep, Vijay (50) and Jitendra (58).

Pushpa's complaint said that Pradeep had stopped giving her food, medicines and medical treatment. It said Pradeep suspected Kusum was back to claim a share in the property and was harassing her in a bid to make her leave.

Past complaints
The family had in the past made several complaints against Pradeep with the Gamdevi police station, the DB Marg police station and the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) alleging various fraudulent actions on his part.

"Pradeep had forged and fabricated the documents related to property," Vijay said. "It seems he forged the will, the shares of the properties and obtained bank loans."

"We have also filed two suits in the high court, four suits (each of forgery, cheating and domestic violence) in the Girgaum court and one in the registrar office," Jitendra said.

Pushpa said Pradeep had kept all business-related documents with him and was not allowing her access to these and the family properties.

"I have clearly said I want all my children to get equal share," Pushpa said.

Seven
The number of suits filed by the Harsora siblings against Pradeep Harsora. Two in the high court, four suits (each of forgery, cheating and domestic violence) in the Girgaum court and one in the registrar office

The other side
Pradeep Harsora said: "I am not aware about a fresh complaint. They (others in the family) are habitual complainants. My mother does not know English. She knows only Gujarati. This is my sister Kusum and my brother Jitendra who are complaining against me. They are complaining for property. Kusum is taking advantage of the domestic violence law. I am not harassing them, they are harassing me. I have given in writing to the court that my mother lives with me. Then how can I harass her?"

The family riches
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
>>The worth of the 1,850 sq ft Harsora family home, Summer Villa on Bhulabhai Desai Road: Rs 20 crore
BUSINESSES
>> NH Harsora Pvt Ltd (chemical factory in Vapi): Rs 50 crore
>> Harsora Hotels Pvt Ltd (Hotel Green View in Vapi): Rs 50 crore
>> Numet Chemicals Pvt Ltd (factory in Vapi): Rs 30 crore
>> Office and open space in Grant Road (36,000 sq ft): Rs 100 crore
Other firms include Palak Investments Pvt Ltd, Keshav Overseas Pvt Ltd, Yogin Steel Pvt Ltd, Narottam Industries, Vidyut Mercantile Pvt Ltd, Harsora Engineering Pvt Ltd. u00a0