Baliram Thorat, who complained against the officials to police, is planning to lodge a complaint against the officials for allegedly threatening him.
MUMBAI: A landlord here, who filed a case against Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) officials for trespassing and causing death of a person, has now alleged the accused are threatening him to withdraw the case.
Baliram Thorat, who complained against the officials to police, is planning to lodge a complaint against the officials for allegedly threatening him to withdraw the previous case, his lawyer Anjali Ayer said.
Thorat had, in last week of November, alleged that the MMRDA officials were carrying out a demolition drive illegally in his Tarabai compound, consisting of residential rooms and industrial units, in suburban Kurla to pave way for a road project.
However, the police registered the complaint only after the Kurla metropolitan magistrate issued orders to investigate into the matter.
On December 20, the police charged MMRDA Joint Metropolitan commissioner Milind Mhaiskar and Relief and Rehabilitation chief Vandana Suryavanshi and others with illegal criminal trespassing, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, public servant unlawfully buying and bidding for property after the complaint.
"We will file a complaint against the MMRDA officials for threatening Thorat to withdraw the case," Ayer said.
"They threatened that Thorat would not get any compensation from the MMRDA if he does not withdraw the charges. The officials said they would continue with demolition drive and he would not get anything," alleged Ayer.
The MMRDA officials had carried out a demolition drive for the proposed Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR) under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP).
During the drive, a resident Shankar Balla (56), had been killed after he was knocked down by a JCB vehicle, used for demolitions. The driver of the JCB, Nabi Rahim Khan, was also arrested.
"The offences against the officials are very serious. The police are deliberately delaying the investigation only to help the accused. We are also planning to file a writ petition in the Bombay High Court," Ayer said.
However, Suryavanshi, denied the allegations. "These are baseless allegations," she said.
Senior Inspector at Kurla police station, Vijay Bagwe, said that there was no delay in investigations.
"We are recording the statements of MMRDA officials, eyewitnesses and others. Appropriate action would be taken after the investigation is over," Bagve said.
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