Criminal case against builders of three Maradu flats

A criminal case was filed against builders of three apartments for violating Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms in Eranakulam's Maradu in Kerala on Thursday.

Police have registered an FIR against three builders of H20, Alpha serene, and Jain apartments under section 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property).

Over 60 bank accounts linked to the builders have been frozen as part of the investigation.

This comes a day after the state government announced to register a criminal case against the builders of flats for violating CRZ norms.

On September 23, the Supreme Court reprimanded the Kerala government for allegedly allowing multi-storey buildings to come up illegally in a coastal zone and said it will fix responsibility on the erring officials involved in such kind of construction. The court also said it was "shocked" that the construction was allowed in a high-tide area in Kerala, where devastating floods occurred a month back.

The apex court had also said the state cannot undertake illegal constructions with the danger of floods and heavy rain looming large.

Following a report by a court-appointed committee, the apex court had on May 8 ordered the demolition of five apartment buildings -- around 400 flats -- in Maradu municipality.