Builder arrested for illegal constructions in Greater Noida

A builder was arrested in Greater Noida on Wednesday in connection with illegal constructions in Shahberi village, where nine people had died in a twin-building collapse last year, police said.

Accused Shameem Alam, a resident of Shahberi, had constructed hundreds of houses illegally in the area and sold them to gullible buyers, they said.

"The state government has also decided to demolish all of his illegal constructions," a police spokesperson said.

Alam had already been booked under the Gangsters Act and section 288 (negligent conduct with respect to pulling down or repairing buildings), among others, of the Indian Penal Code, the police said.

On July 17, 2018, two adjoining buildings had collapsed in Greater Noida's Shahberi village, leaving nine people, including a child and two women, dead.

Probe reports by administration and local authorities found that the buildings had come up illegally and without any proper approval, as did several others in Shahberi, less than 50 kilometers from Delhi.

Shahberi falls under the notified area of the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA), which had acquired the land from local villagers in 1994, the officials said.

On August 28, the district administration had invoked National Security Act (NSA) against another builder, Shahbuddin, who had constructed the twin buildings which had collapsed.

It was the first case in Uttar Pradesh in which a builder was detained under the stringent NSA, which prohibits bail to an accused for 12 months, subject to judicial review, the administration had said.