Sitting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Mira-Bhayander and corporator Narendra Mehta and five officers of the Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC) have been booked for demanding Rs 2 crore extortion from a builder in 2015.
The Naya Nagar police in Mira Road filed the FIR on January 25 following the Bombay high court order on Monday. Last year, the complainant Vinod Trivedi (45) had filed a criminal writ petition alleging that the police failed to take his complaint against Mehta and the officers.
Mehta refuted the charges saying that the builder had been asked to stop work as he had submitted fake documents. “The builder has mentioned in his police statement that he has no proof. It is easy for anyone to make allegations,” said Mehta.
Trivedi had alleged that Mehta along with MBMC town planner Dilip Gheware, assistant commissioner (encroachment) Chandakant Borse, ward officers Swapnil Sawant and Sanjay Dhonde, Bhupesh Kakde (junior engineer) had demanded Rs 2 crore for permission to construct a residential building in Bhayander.
Trivedi had the development rights of the property. On May 25, 2015, when Trivedi approached Gheware for the commencement certificate (plinth level) to start the construction work, he was told to speak to Mehta.
While Trivedi did not speak to Mehta, he met Gheware and reminded him of a clause where the builder could go ahead with the construction if the civic administration failed to respond to the application.