One more Shahberi builder booked under NSA

Noida: The district magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar, BN Singh, for a second time, invoked the stringent National Security Act against a builder in Shahberi for carrying

Noida: The district magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar, BN Singh, for a second time, invoked the stringent National Security Act against a builder in Shahberi for carrying out illegal construction. The NSA has been invoked against a 36-year-old Delhi-based builder, Jasveer Mann, who is currently in judicial custody.

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Mann is the second builder to be booked for illegal construction in Shahberi. Last month, Shahabudin Khan, 47, who had built an illegal building without any layout plan approval from the Greater Noida authrotiy was booked under NSA.

Officials had said Khan had used poor quality construction material which had led to the twin building collapse on July 17, 2018, that killed nine persons and injured several others.

According to the district officials, Mann had constructed 261 flats in several multi-storeyed buildings in Shahberi without getting any approval for the layout plans or maps of these buildings. Officials said Maan has sold 169 flats in buildings that had no structural stability certificate.

Mann has applied for bail and the hearing on his application is due on October 17. “We have invoked NSA against Mann who will be kept in detention for one year, subject to approval from the government. He is the second person to be booked under NSA in the Shahberi illegal construction matter. We will continue taking strict legal action against rogue builders,” district magistrate BN Singh said.

Mann runs a construction company, Mann Properties and Developers, along with his father. He lives with his family in Gautampuri, Delhi.

“The decision of invoking NSA against Mann has been taken based on reports submitted by the senior superintendent of police, a magisterial inquiry report and the inputs from the local investigation unit. There is a possibility that the accused can disturb public order if he let off, and, hence, the more stringent NSA has been invoked against him,” Singh said.

After the July 17, 2018, incident, police and administration investigations revealed a complex and well thought out nexus of builders, land mafia and contractors which has used the ‘vacuum space’ created in Shahberi due to various litigations by the Allahabad high court to its advantage and monetary gains.

Despite the high court orders to maintain status quo in the area, registration of commercial and residential properties has not stopped in Shahberi village. Although the district administration, the Greater Noida authority and the police department have been raising concerns over the illegality of construction, which has taken place in Shahberi, no step has been taken to stop the registry of properties in the area.