After facing harassment for almost five years and spending 20 months in jail for the crime that he had never committed, a 48-year-old film distributor can finally see some ray of hope with the Virar police registering an FIR on the instructions of the Palghar SP against four accused involved in an apartment fraud case. Even though three SPs of Palghar district got transferred in the last five years, no one bothered to register a case against the owner of an apartment in Virar, a builder and a cop, who allegedly harassed the victim. However, almost 18 months after the police quashed the charges against victim Santosh Kumar Shah, an FIR was registered against four people on November 5.

No amenities available
According to Shah, he earlier lived in Andheri. Speaking to mid-day, he said, "In 2013 I was looking for a rented apartment in Virar. A man by the name Karimullah helped me get a 1BHK one at Neeraj Building in Virar East. I got it at a monthly rent of Rs 2,700 and security deposit of Rs 15,000." He paid an advance of Rs 5,000 and gave a post-dated cheque of Rs 10,000. Though the owner, Ravikant Patel, had promised to provide all amenities at the flat, when Shah moved in, he realised that there was no power and water. When he asked him to return his money, Patel did not pay any heed to it. In due course of time, he found out that the owner had earlier cheated other people in the same way. Thereafter, he filed a complaint with the Virar police, following which the accused were served a notice under CrPC section 149.