MUMBAI: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Mumbai’s crime branch is investigating a land scam involving extensive tampering with property records to convert Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and No Development Zone (NDZ) lands into developable plots along the coastline. Mohammed Vasi Akhtar Shaikh (38) has been arrested as the 11th accused, accused of manipulating city survey maps and bribing government officials.
Shaikh allegedly received payments from landowners seeking to lift the NDZ designation from their properties to facilitate illegal construction. Investigations revealed that he bribed officials from the BMC’s P-North ward. In one instance, he allegedly paid Rs 6 lakh to BMC officials via a middleman, Mohammad Istekhar Sheikh, to halt the demolition of unauthorized structures in Malvani. It’s been reported that the money was funneled to two BMC officials, Ranjit Patil and Gonsalves, to prevent eviction actions,” a police official stated. The police have also found evidence of bribe transactions made through mobile payment services.
During the investigation at the Goregaon city survey office, discrepancies were identified in records during a December 2019 inspection. Several maps from 1965-70 had been altered to inaccurately depict non-existent constructions.
In June, the SIT submitted a comprehensive 1,600-page chargesheet revealing a widespread conspiracy that involved officials from the Goregaon city survey department, property agents, and private individuals. It detailed how government officers falsified official land records by altering survey maps, which permitted unauthorized constructions on protected lands in Malvani, Erangal, and Poisar.
