Three Mhada employees held for housing racket

Three employees of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) were arrested on Thursday for allegedly running a housing racket.

Three employees of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) were arrested on Thursday for allegedly running a housing racket.

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The accused have been identified as Ziauddin Salauddin Siddiqui, 57, Kamlakar Bhoir, 54, and Sanjay Kashinath, 47. Senior inspector Hemant Patil from the Dharavi police station said that Siddiqui is an executive engineer, Bhoir a deputy engineer and Kashinath, an estate manager with the Mhada.

Patil said that the accused would help ineligible persons in procuring forged documents that would help them acquire a Mhada flat.

They would get a monetary gain in return, Patil added.

Last year, a few people from the Dharavi transit camp — who were entitled to a Mhada flat as their own was going into redevelopment — registered a complaint at the Dharavi police station after they were denied a flat because it was allotted to others.

The police had then arrested 22 persons, which included seven agents and 15 buyers.

“During our investigation, we found that three Mhada employees were also involved in the racket and we arrested them last night. The have been booked on charges of cheating and forgery,” said Patil.

The accused were presented before the local court that remanded them in police custody till December 12.