MUMBAI: A brutal attack with a sharp weapon on the secretary of a 100-year-old Mazgaon based building, Meghji Building Tenants' CHS, has shocked and alarmed the local residents; especially since the building was in the process of redevelopment, and the building committee members had recently cancelled the redevelopment deal awarded to a city based builder.
While the Byculla police has nabbed the two assailants, based on CCTV evidence, the injured building secretary Dharmesh Solanki (50), has pointed fingers at a prominent politician to be behind the attack -- although the name of the politician is not mentioned in the FIR.
Talking to TOI from his hospital bed at Sir JJ Hospital, Solanki said: ``I was attacked in broad daylight on October 6 by two men on a motorcycle just opposite the GST Bhavan government building in Mazgaon. They uttered the name of a leading politician before deeply injuring my right arm up to the bone, and then fled. Despite telling the local police about who I suspect behind this gruesome attack, the politician's name does not figure in the FIR.'' Solanki, who has now sent a detailed note to the zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police about the incidents regarding the redevelopment plan of the three wings of their old building; and how the politician got involved in this process; he added that the case investigation should be handed over to either the state CID or the Mumbai crime branch to ensure that all the main accused persons are held accountable.
"Earlier, through a tender process, we had awarded the building redevelopment contract to Samarth Erectors & Developers group whose office is in Malad. However, the group kept delaying the redevelopment work, while also not paying the earnest money of Rs 1 crore to the society. We later also came to know that a family member of the politician had a stake in this builder group. There were a few more irregularities which could not be overlooked, although the politician had urged us to continue with this same builder group. However, in June this year, a special general body meeting of all our 77 building members was called in order to cancel the deal awarded to Samarth Erectors & Developers,'' said Solanki.
He further added: "While the Byculla police did nab the two men who had directly attacked me, it is strange that the real motive behind this assault has still not been divulged by this duo. On the other hand, I have logically explained to the police how the neta is most likely to be behind this crime, ever since we had cancelled the redevelopment deal given to the builder. Hence, I want this case to be shifted out of Byculla, for a fair probe.''
The senior police inspector of Byculla police station, Nandkumar Gopale, told TOI: ``We had arrested the two assailants within 48 hours of the attack on Solanki. A third person is also likely to be held soon as the investigation continues. The redevelopment angle is also being looked into.''
Solanki, though, added that despite the nature of his injury, only IPC 326 (assault with dangerous weapon) was applied in the FIR, and not IPC 307 (attempt to murder). ``The assailants had also hit my head region with the weapon, but since I was wearing a helmet, my life was saved that day,'' he recalled.
In order to get the version of Samarth Erectors & Developers group, TOI contacted the group's Malad based manager-cum-draftsman, Zaigham Sakharkar, who said: ``While our contract for the building redevelopment at Mazgaon was cancelled, I was just not aware about the recent attack on Solanki. I am just a worker in this company and so was earlier in touch with Solanki for the redevelopment work. Their building committee members had some issues on this matter and so they had cancelled our contract with them. However, we know nothing about this attack (on Solanki).''
