Fashion designer James Ferreira was shocked to see the sudden demolition work of one of the houses in his locality Khotachiwadi—which is over a century old and is a heritage precinct, as per the BMC. After noticing it on Wednesday, he immediately reached out to the authorities concerned and got the civic body to issue a stop-work notice.

“I had asked the officers to issue a stop-work notice. We will verify all documents regarding this work,” said Prashant Gaikwad, assistant municipal commissioner of D ward, adding, “We will take appropriate action after verification.” The ownership of the bungalow, however, remains elusive with neither the locals nor the civic body having a clear answer. Locals said the house belonged to a Fernanded family earlier, but they sold it a few years ago.