Ahmednagar-based developer and three landowners were booked by Lonikand police on the charge of duping 10 people of Rs 1.60 crore over the sale of housing plots on an 11,373sq ft land at Avhalwadi in Haveli taluka and refusing to hand over possession of the plots since March 2019.
Sub-inspector Kiran Varal on Thursday said, “Complainant Bapu Abnave, a small- time businessman from Wadgaonsheri, and nine others had jointly entered into a registered agreement with the developer and the landowners after paying the market price of the land for construction of houses on the same, but the project did not commence till date.”
Varal said, “The buyers met the original landowners on numerous occasions and requested them to hand over possession of their plots for the purpose of fencing and barricading but they turned down their requests, claiming that the developer had not cleared their dues. After this, the buyers held a meeting with the developer and sought reasons for not clearing dues of the original landowners. The developer told them that he had cleared their dues, but they were not allowing him to commence construction work,” he said.
“After efforts to settle the dispute between landowners and the developer proved futile, the buyers filed a complaint application with the police in June. We conducted a preliminary inquiry and examined the documents and registered an FIR against the developer and others relating to cheating under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code after seeking legal opinion,” he added.