Kochi Maradu flats demolition case: 3 accused to be produced in court today

The three accused in the case of constructing flats in Maradu, in violation of the Coastal Act will be produced before the Muvattupuzha Vigilance Court on Wednesday.

An emergency council meeting is also expected to be approved today by the municipal council to hand over the flats to demolition companies.

Earlier, the three accused persons, including former Maradu Panchayat Secretary Mohammed Ashraf, were taken into custody by the Crime Branch under the Prevention of Corruption Act, for allegedly granting permission to construct flats.

On May 8, a court had ordered Kerala government to demolish the flats as they were in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules.

Further, the court had on September 23, reprimanded the government for not acting on its order and allegedly allowing multi-storey buildings to come up illegally in the coastal zone and said it will fix responsibility on the erring officials involved in such kind of construction.

The Supreme Court had ordered interim compensation of Rs 25 lakh to each flat owner to be paid within four weeks.