‘Cop helped land mafia get keys to Rs 50-crore bungalow in Kalina’

In the fifth part of the lsquoThe old and the vulnerablersquo series midday reports about a murder accusedrsquos allegations that a local police officer allegedly helped the land mafia grab his Rs 50crore bungalow in Kalina The owner Roque DrsquoSouza was jailed in 2017 for allegedly killing his wifeIn 2018 the then Vakola police inspector Kailas Avhad allegedly forced Roquersquos sisterinlaw Jacinta Mascerenhas 59 to hand over his bungalowrsquos to his brother Joseph DrsquoSouza in front of one Prem Chandran another land grab accused and Abid Ali Mushtaque Tanaji an accused in other land grab casesAbid Ali Tanaji who has allegedly grabbed Roque DrsquoSouzarsquos bungalowWhile Tanaji still has the custody of the bungalow Joseph is absconding said Roquersquos counsel Advocate Prashant Pandey Avhad now the assistant commissioner of police has denied the allegationsKeys given in June 2018ldquoOfficer Avhad misused his power and forced Jacinta to hand over the property to Joseph who lived in Mangalore then Avhad had called Jacinta to the police station made her sign on a piece of paper and give the keys to Joseph on June 29 2018 How can the police force my clientrsquos relatives to give house keys to someone who is in jailrdquo asked the lawyerA clip of one of middayrsquos report from 2018 with photos of Roque and Violet DrsquoSouzaPandey said Tanaji was in jail after they had filed a landgrabbing complaint in 2018 while Prem Chandran got anticipatory bail ldquoLater Tanaji got bail with the condition that he wonrsquot tamper with evidence However he entered my clientrsquos bungalow and forged the document and transferred the electricity bill on his own name The bungalow is still in the Tanajirsquos custody since January 11 2019rdquo he addedSpeaking with midday Jacita who lives at Vakola said ldquoOfficer Avhad called me to the police station and when I reached there he said Joseph was Roquersquos brother and that the bungalowrsquos keys belong to him I told him that Roque was the rightful owner and he will need the keys when he gets out of jail But he forced me to hand over the key to Joseph Both Tanaji and Premchand were also thererdquoAvhad said ldquoThe allegations against me are false I didnrsquot support Tanaji to grab the bungalow We investigated the matter and also registered a case and arrested him I didnrsquot call Jacinta to the police station I had also given an explanation about it at the police stationrdquolsquoRoque wants his home backrsquoPandey said ldquoMy client is in jail but he is regularly asking me about his property He wants to know where he will go when he comes out He wants his property backrdquoPrashant Pandey victim Roquersquos advocateRoque and his wife Violet DrsquoSouza lived at bungalow number 167A near KES School in Kalina The property spread over 6000 sqft belonged to Roquersquos father Louis DrsquoSouza since 19501960s Louis had four children mdash two daughters who have died and two sons Joseph and Roque Roque allegedly killed his wife in the bungalow after which he was sent to Arthur Road Jail in 2017A friend of his has claimed that the land mafia had murdered Violet not Roque ldquoTwo weeks before Violet was murdered Roque was stressed and looking for a Job and received a call from an unknown person who asked him to meet him at the security cabin of Golden Square buildingAfter the meeting he messaged saying the person threatened him to vacate the bungalow or he would go to jail for life I donrsquot think Roque killed his wife It was the land mafia to grab his propertyrdquo the friend said