Villian of the piece also good at dishing out sob stories

A weaver of traditional charpoys, Amritpal Singh Sachdeva was good at cooking up sob stories as well.

A weaver of traditional charpoys, Amritpal Singh Sachdeva was good at cooking up sob stories as well.

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Even though the man earned crores of rupees through illegal construction, every time his tenants came asking for help, he used to send them off with his sob stories.

"We went to Sachdeva not once, but thrice to ask him to pump out water from the basement. But every time he claimed that he had no money to do it. He used to claim that the rent we pay goes in paying electricity and water bills," said Swapan Haldar, a resident of the ill-fated N-85.

However, this was not the only way he was able to build two plush houses for himself in Ramesh Park.

"He wasn't so rich always. He came from a humble background, but made it big after getting into illegal activities and construction business," said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

According to Delhi Police, Sachdeva dabbled in everything - from illicit liquor business to mixing up cement with inferior quality materials.

Police also suspect Sachdeva's involvement in running the sweatshop in the ill-fated building that used to employ 10 year olds.

We are looking into the matter and believe that he may have been involved in running the illegal embroidery shop. We are investigating to find out the truth," he said..

Police said he was one of the biggest land mafia in the area. He held so much of clout that not many dared to cross swords with him, the officer added.