Mumbai: 35 years later, Pali Hill family again threatened to leave premises

Residents of B62 bungalow on Pali Hill are no strangers to threats and intimidating behaviour According to them the June 10 incident in which nearly 100 people stormed into their house and asked them to vacate the property is a replay of what happened back in 1980Dulcene Ansari left said this is the second time that goons have barged into their home and asked them to leave She has been staying in the bungalow since 1956 PicsNimesh DaveOn Wednesday June 10 about 100 people entered the bungalow on Zig Zag Road at Pali Hill and threatened the tenants to leave the premises The residents are the Ansaris Dulcene 80 her son Aneev 44 his wife Minaz 39 and their two children Rhyan 9 and Rafael 6 When the goons entered the bungalow Minaz had gone to drop off Rhyan to karate classldquoAround 100 people barged into our house when my motherinlaw and younger son were alone at home When I reached home at around 615 pm I saw that these people were misbehaving with my motherinlaw and were even trying to push her out of the bungalow after snatching her phoneMy younger son was screaming at the top of his voice out of fear but the people with nearly 10 women part of the group were telling us to go awayrdquo Minaz told middaySecond timeAccording to Dulcene in 1980 around 40 goons had entered their home and demanded that they pack up and leave ldquoA similar incident had happened in 1980 when people had entered our house and asked us to go away from our house We had then approached the police station after which the issue was sorted outrdquo recalled the elderly womanAccording to the police 24 people have been arrested in connection with the incident They were all produced in court yesterday and remanded to judicial custody According to Minaz 810 women were also part of the mob However police claimed they didnrsquot find any women on the spotldquoThe complainant has said in their statement that there were also women present at the spot But when our police team reached the spot we did not find any women We are investigating into the matter and those accused who have been arrested are from different locationsSome are from Khar East some are from Mahim and some from Kandivlirdquo said Dattatray Bhargude senior police inspector Khar Police Minaz said their house was a complete mess after the incident and alleged that cash worth Rs 10000 got stolen ldquoI donrsquot think there was any intention to steal since my laptop was untouchedrdquo she saidDisputeAccording to a police official who requested anonymity ldquoThis is an ongoing property dispute case This can be the reason for the incidentrdquo The Ansaris live on the first floor of the 1600sq foot bungalow ldquoMy motherinlaw has been staying here since 1956 Irsquove been staying here since the last thirteen yearsItrsquos a tenancy dispute wherein the developer is saying that we are not tenants The developer claims he was not behind Wednesdayrsquos incident We also donrsquot want to accuse anyonerdquo Minaz told this paper The familyrsquos lawyer explained ldquoThe family has been staying in the bungalow since 1956 and the property went for development in 1976The developer has been claiming that the Ansaris are not the tenants A case was also filed regarding the same by the developer in the city civil and small causes court but he lost the case He then filed a civil revision application in the High Court in the rsquo90s and the hearing will come up soonrdquoPolice will now be patrolling the area on a regular basis a constable has also been temporarily posted at the bungalow The Ansaris on their part are planning to install CCTV cameras on their premises midday tried to contact the builder but his phone was not reachable