Thane: 11 duped in fake MHADA housing scheme, 3 booked

The Thane Police in Maharashtra have a launched a detailed probe after as many as 11 local residents were allegedly duped of lakhs of rupees in a fake MHADA housing scheme and booked three people in connection with the matterAccording to the police the suspects allegedly cheated 11 residents of Maharashtrarsquos Thane district by luring them with promises of lowcost housing under a government scheme and using forged credentials to open bank accounts for larger financial transactions police said on Monday the PTI reportedInitially a 54yearold woman from Ulhasnagar in Thane who filed the complaint alleged that the accused won her trust by promising her a house at a concessional rate under the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority MHADA schemeThe accused lured the complainant and others by offering MHADA flats at low prices and collected money from them over the last two years as per the PTIFraudsters misuse personal details to obtain SIM cards email IDs and bank accountsThey also misused their personal details to procure SIM cards create email IDs and open bank accounts an official from Hill Line police station saidThe accused allegedly took Rs 5000 each from 11 victims collecting a total of Rs 55000 They used the victims credentials to route larger financial transactions through bank accounts opened in their names he saidAlleged fund transfers carried out using forged signatures and documentsThey allegedly transferred funds to various bank accounts of companies and builders using forged signatures and documents thereby cheating the victims and breaching their trust the official said the news agency reportedFollowing the womans complaint on Saturday the police registered a case against three persons under relevant provisions for cheating and forgery he addedThe police suspect that more individuals may have been cheated and have urged people to verify claims related to government housing schemes before making paymentsBJP MLA alleges Rs 2000crore housing scam in Mumbai govt orders auditIn a similar incident earlier in March the Maharashtra government ordered a vigilance audit after a BJP MLA alleged a Rs 2000 crore scam in housing schemes in MumbaiThe report of the audit is expected within 30 days Minister of State for Urban Development Madhuri Misal told the legislative assemblyMadhuri Misal further stated that action would be taken against officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC if they are found to have ignored violations of rules by developersMihir Kotecha BJP MLA from Mulund raised the issue through a callingattention motionHe said ldquoDevelopers have misused provisions under Development Control Regulations DCR 3311 and 3320b meant for insitu Permanent Transit Camp PTC and Project Affected Persons PAP housingrdquo as per PTIBJP MLA alleges Rs 2000 crore housing scamInsitu PTC housing was shown in approved plans but instead the developers constructed and sold commercial units and highend residential flats he claimed adding that transactions worth over Rs 100 crore had taken place in Mulund alone and the total scale of the scam across Mumbai was more than Rs 2000 croreMinister Misal admitted that certain irregularities had come to light and some developers had failed to hand over mandatory housing stock to authorities despite availing additional Floor Space Index FSI benefitsShe further added Stopwork notices have already been issued in some cases If it is found that sales took place and BMC officials ignored them strict action will be taken as cited by PTIMisal also said that the government is reviewing policies related to the relocation of slum dwellers particularly the cases where beneficiaries are shifted beyond the stipulated fivekm radius from project sitesHowever she also added that a final decision on policy changes will be taken after consultations as cited by PTIWith PTI inputs