Sameer Bhujbal denies grabbing a Christian family’s bungalow in Mumbai

Mumbai NCP president Sameer Bhujbal denied the allegations of grabbing a Christian family’s bungalow in Santacruz. In a statement he said that the land of the bungalow belonged to the Bombay Christian Trust and the lease hold rights had been given to the Fernandes couple. “They filed consent terms for the development of the property with Palm Shelters, a Raheja company. However, since no development took place for a decade, they approached the society secretary Frederick Noronha. That is when they came in contact with Parvesh Constructions.” The statement further said, “The Fernandes family were to be given flats in the society and we gave the compensation for this purpose to Noronha and Palm Shelters in exchange for the rights to the property. In 2003, the Fernandes couple even registered a PoA in the name of Parvesh Construction. We later terminated our agreement with Noronha. The Fernandes family refused to accept the flat provided by Noronha. We offered Rs 50 lakh as compensation. The family accepted this but did not deposit the cheque in the bank.” 

Anjali Damania, an anti-corruption activist, has accused NCP MP Supriya Sule of not taking action against Chhagan Bhujbal for allegedly seizing a bungalow belonging to the Fernandes family. Damania claims that Sule initially verified the allegations and demanded Rs 8.5 crore in compensation, but there has been no progress since then. The Fernandes family had given the bungalow for redevelopment in 1994 but did not receive the promised five flats. Damania has issued a 48-hour ultimatum for Bhujbal to transfer the money. Both Bhujbal and Sule have denied the allegations.

Alleging that Bhujbal delivered a provocative speech during this meeting, Damania had planned a significant disclosure to the media outside the leader's house. En route, she was intercepted and detained by the Mumbai police. She said, Chhagan Bhujbal recently made a statement that he has not eaten others' food but relies on his hard work. This statement bothered me, and I wanted to disclose information about it.

She added, Dorin Fernandes, aged 78, has three autistic sons. After her husband passed away, she entered into a redevelopment deal with Raheja builder for her bungalow in Santacruz West. The deal was finalised, with the builder promising her five flats. Without informing her, Raheja sold the bungalow to a firm owned by Chhagan Bhujbal's nephew Sameer Bhujbal. The bungalow was later demolished and replaced with a highrise building, but Fernandes received nothing. I wanted to show this to the media. However, the Santacruz police detained me. Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone-9 Krishnakant Upadhyay confirmed the detention and said she was released at 11.30 am after completing the legal process.