Despite repeated petitions to cops, Kalina man sees no hope of returning home

Roque DrsquoSouza whose bungalow in Kalina has been usurped by land sharks in alleged connivance with senior Vakola cops has knocked on the doors of several police officers including the CP to get his ancestral property back Five days later since his last visit for help the 68yearold sees no hope of returning to his home anytime soon He was acquitted of his wifersquos murder and released from Arthur Road jail earlier this monthDrsquoSouzarsquos multicrore property was grabbed by Abid Ali Mushtaque Tanaji and Prem Chandran after he was falsely implicated in the murder of his wife Violet in 2017 ldquoI am the legal custodian of the 6500sqft bungalow in Kalina Santacruz East I have learnt that the then senior inspector SI at Vakola police station Kailash Avhad helped them get access to my bungalowrdquo he told middayDrsquoSouza outside Vakola police station on January 14 PicSameer MarkandeldquoItrsquos so painful that I have to go from pillar to post at 68 to prove the ownership of my own home while the grabbers are living peacefully in my property I am homeless and living at the mercy of my relatives ldquoThe grabbers in connivance with Avhad conspired to falsely implicate me in my wifersquos murder to sideline me so that they can snatch my homerdquo DrsquoSouza who walked out of jail in the first week of January went to five police offices seeking helpVisit 1On January 14 he met Senior Inspector Sunaina Nate at Vakola police station ldquoI submitted my complaint letter and Nate said my statement will be recorded and that she will collect all the documents and submit them in court I got an acknowledgement sliprdquo Police recorded his statement on January 15 but he didnrsquot sign as his counsel Advocate Prashant Pandey wanted to go through its contentsThe property of Roque DrsquoSouza at Vakola PicSameer MarkandeVisit 2On January 17 he went to Vile Parle police station to meet Assistant Commissioner of Police ACP Shripad Kale but he was unavailable ldquoAfter waiting for an hour I was told that he will return at 5 pm I submitted my complaint letter took the acknowledgement slip and leftrdquoVisit 3Next he reached BKC police station to meet Zone VIII Deputy Commissioner of Police Dr D S Swami ldquoHe told me hersquos aware of my case and called Nate He asked her the reason for the delay and why the case files hadnrsquot reached court yet She told him that my statement hasnrsquot been signed yet I told him that Nate was supposed to send my statementrsquos copy to my advocate but she hadnrsquot yet The DCP told me to visit Vakola police station and sign the statementrdquoRoque DrsquoSouza at the residence of his sisterinlaw Jacinta Mascerenhas at Vakola on January 19 PicSameer MarkandeVisit 4Later that evening he went to the office of Additional CP West Region Sandip Karnik in Bandra ldquoAn officer told me lsquowhatrsquos the point of visiting ACPrsquos office when you have already met the DCPrsquo I was told to courier my complaint to Karnik as he was not availablerdquo DrsquoSouza recalledVisit 5On January 18 he went to meet the Mumbai commissioner of police CP and joint CP Law amp Order at Crawford Market ldquoI was not allowed to meet them and was told to take an appointment from next time as they are busy officers I submitted my complaint and received an acknowledgementrdquoRoque DrsquoSouza with his complaint letter outside Vile Parle police stationACP Kale on probeSources told midday that the probe was deliberately stonewalled due to the alleged involvement of Vakola police ACP Kale told midday that the investigation will be restarted as directed by the zonal DCP on January 19Asked why police didnrsquot take the bungalow into their possession he said ldquoAfter taking Tanaji into custody in 2019 Vakola police submitted a notice under Section 145 of CrPC at the magistrate court to take possession of the bungalowrdquo However the notice was rejected as Tanaji had already filed a suit at Dindoshi sessions court he addedOn questioning Avhad he said ldquoI couldnrsquot get time to go through the old files of the case So it will be premature to comment over Avhadrsquos role But he and others will be called in for questioningrdquo ldquoThe bungalow was in DrsquoSouzarsquos possession as he was arrested from there in 2017 We will investigate how it was usurped by Tanaji and who all helped himrdquo he addedOutside BKC police stationAll documents forgedA police source told midday that the bungalow is now in possession of Tanaji who is running a car garage and a salon from there Tanaji claims to have an MoU a gift deed and a conveyance deed Vakola police had verified these deeds with the district registrarrsquos office in 2019 and found them to be fakeAvhad now the ACP at Kherwadi division has been accused of helping Tanaji get the keys to the bungalow from DrsquoSouzarsquos sisterinlaw Jacinta Mascerenhas Jacinta was made to hand over the keys to Joseph DrsquoSouzarsquos brotherAvhad rubbishes allegationsldquoDuring my tenure as senior inspector of Vakola police station I never saw Tanaji get involved in any robbery theft or other crime nor did he have any criminal background but when I received a complaint of DrsquoSouza I booked him and arrested himrdquo Avhad told midday He said he has lsquonever seenrsquo Chandran and Joseph Jacinta had alleged that Avhad had threatened to implicate her family members in a complex case if she didnrsquot give the keys ldquoI handed over the key to Joseph and received a letter from him The letter was written to the senior inspector Vakola police station in 2018 I was armtwisted by Avhad and his men at the police station to hand over the keys to Josephrdquo she alleged Countering her allegation Avhad said ldquoI donrsquot even know who Jacinta is and I have never met her Why will I force her to do sordquoOutside the office of ACP West Region Mumbai at Bandra on January 17 PicsShadab KhanRubbishing the allegations made by Advocate Pandey Avhad said ldquoI have served in the Maharashtra police for over three decades and never indulged in such mattersrdquo Asked if has been called in by ACP Kale for questioning Avhad said ldquoI have not been called by anyone for questioning And why will I be called by him I have not done anything wrong in my entire career He is set to retire from the force later this yearBackground of Kalina plotOne Brazil Policrap Anacatius resided on this plot before 1957 After he left the property came into the possession of Louis DrsquoSouza Roquersquos father In 1957 the then government ordered that people can stake claim to the property they are residing at for which they need to register with the government and get a card Louis registered the Kalina property which has three shops and one small house that Roque put up on rent The property card is still in Louisrsquos name However Tanaji changed the ownerrsquos name on the electricity bill with fake documentsConveyance deedVakola police said the conveyance deed was between Ebrahim Rajan Meghoji and Abid Alirsquos father Mushtaque Tanaji registered at district registrarrsquos office at Bandra division on April 3 1980 Vakola police however found out that the deedrsquos serial number 250780 was wrong In 1980 the total registered deeds were 203080Gift deedThis gift deed between accused Abid Ali and Mushtaque was signed in 1999 with serial number 61201999 It states Mushtaque gifted this property to his son Abid Ali However Vakola police found the deed to be fake after checking it with the sub registrarrsquos office In 1999 the serial number of the last deed was 3990 they learntSale deedIn India the city title survey CTS number was started by the government in 1960 However Abid Ali forged the sale deed and mentioned the date as April 18 1951 The deed stated that Anacatius sold this property to Ebrahim Rajan Meghoji