'Thanks to mid-day, I'm getting my house back after 13 years'

Nearly two months after midday first exposed how the land mafia was taking over properties in Kalina the Vakola police finally arrested the mastermind Prem Chandran PK on Thursday Chandran had evaded arrest for over a month after fellow accused Abid Ali Mushtaque Tanaji was caught Cops suspect Chandran is involved in many similar offences and have appealed to citizens to come forward if he has grabbed their land toomidday first reported on the landgrabbers in Kalina on December 28 2018 highlighting how Prem Chandran PK and accomplice Abid Ali Mushtaque Tanaji had usurped a Rs 50crore bungalow taking advantage of the fact that owner Roque DSouza was in prisonPrem Chandran had managed to evade arrest for over a monthReader comes forwardIt was after reading this first report that a reader Albina Fernandes came forward with a similar complaint against Chandran She alleged that he had taken over her Rs 3crore property way back in 2006 and she had been struggling to get it back ever since After battling alone for 13 years Fernandes had all but given up until she recognised Chandran in the news report It was fortunate that she did because Chandran was eventually arrested on the basis of her complaintThanks to middays report I am getting justice after almost 13 years I hope I get my house back soon But I also want to know what happened to my husbandThe people who grabbed my property might have been be involved in his disappearance in 2000 said Fernandes 62Prem Chandran has been arrested in the second case midday reported regarding Albina Fernandess landWhile Tanaji was arrested within weeks Chandran had managed to elude the police for over a month After his anticipatory bail application ABA was rejected by the sessions court cops launched a manhunt for him across Mumbai Chennai and Kerala but he remained untraceable Eventually the Bombay High Court granted him relief in the DSouza bungalow caseOn February 21 the police registered two fresh FIRs against Chandran one of which was Fernandess case The very same day the cops arrested Chandran during a surprise raid of his houseFernandes advocate Prashant Pandey saidThis is a victory of the common man restoring faith in the due process of law Justice may take time but it will prevailSecond FIRThe second new FIR against Chandran was registered on the complaint of activist Charles DSouza who alleged the accused had also grabbed Kalinachurchs property in 2018 Charles said Our church member Merry Rodricks died in 2015 bequeathing her property to the Kalina church The accused grabbed this property in 2018 with forged documents He had done the same thing many times targeting widows or people likely to lose track of their landSo far the Vakola police have three FIRs against him including the DSouza Bungalow which was first reported by this paperThe cops suspect that Chandran is involved in at least a dozen such cases grabbing properties with the help of forged documents Cops have now appealed to locals to come forward if their property was similarly encroachedKailaschandra B Avahad senior PI at Vakola policestation said After registering two more FIRs the accused was arrested under Sections 465 forgery 467 forgery of valuable security will etc 468 forgery for cheating 471 using forged documents 420 cheating and 34 common intentionof the IPCWe are investigating if the accused was also involved in more such casesIn court todayChandran was presented on court today where a heated argument took place between the public prosecutor and his lawyer The defence informed the court that the land was under a civil disputed and the matter was sub judice The lawyer also claimed that Chandran had been framedThe public prosecutor informed the court that the accused had been arrested for forgery and trespassing not in the civil matterAfter hearing both sides the Bandra court didnt grant the Vakola police custody and instead remanded Chandran to judicial custodyFollowing this setback the cops are likely to approach the sessions court to get his custody for further investigationsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates