Shimla's luxury housing project faces cheating case

A cheating and forest laws violation case was registered against builder Bemloe Development and Infrastructure Company Thursday over alleged wrongdoings in getting clearances for the Shimla project, police said.

A case under sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code and Section 33 of the Indian Forest Act has been registered, Additional Director General (Vigilance) Prithvi Raj told IANS.

"During the course of investigation, we will reach out to the individuals," he said.

The ruling Congress, when in the opposition, demanded the investigations as it alleged the then Bharatiya Janata Party government, in violation of environmental and land laws, granted all clearances to Bemloe Development in a single day.

The builder is constructing the apartments in the green belt of Kanlog area under the name Samatara apartments.

"It has been revealed during the preliminary inquiry that a forged application and false documents were prepared to cheat the government and to give wrongful gain to Bemloe Development and wrongful loss to the government by hatching a criminal conspiracy," said a vigilance statement.

The ruling party has demanded scrapping of the project as it is located in a thickly forested area and the builder cut dozens of trees overnight. The builder, however, denies the allegations.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist has alleged that Bemloe Development was a proxy for Delhi-based real estate giant DLF.

"Prima facie, it seems 'kaccha' or temporary path has been widened enough to accommodate the beneficiaries so the path can be used for commercial purpose by selling the flat constructed by the company," said the report.