MUMBAI, December 12: The litigation over threat calls from Shiv Sena Bhavan to the Trindade couple took an interesting turn after Sena leader Vijay Loke alleged that the Trindades had misused the Sena name to lay their hands on a property in Goa.

In his affidavit filed in the Bombay High Court yesterday, Loke said that Bandra residents Trudy and Anthony Trindade were misrepresenting the Sena to get hold of the hotel resort in Goa.

He denied making any threatening calls to the Trindade couple. On the contrary, he claimed, the couple had threatened one Regina D'Souza who had claimed over Rs 16 lakh for her services rendered in the Paradise Village Resort Hotel, Goa. Loke alleges that Anthony Trindade had threatened D'Souza to drop her claim in the Goa property or ``he would ask his connections in the Shiv Sena to teach her a lesson''. He also clarifies that Regina D'Souza is not concerned with the Marina Resorts, Goa, as claimed by Trindades in their petition , but with the Paradise Village Resorts Hotel, Goa.

Therefore, Loke adds, D'Souza approached him at the Shiv Sena Bhavan and he intervened because ``after perusal of the property papers, I felt that the Sena name was being misused''. He adds that he merely called up Trudy Trindade from his mobile telephone and asked for Anthony Trindade. ``Trudy Trindade informed me that he was not at home. I disclosed my identity and gave her my mobile telephone number as well as my residence number,'' the Sena leader informed the high court.

Loke's affidavit comes in the wake of the petition filed by the Trindades alleging threatening phone calls from Loke on October 21, 1997. The couple alleged that Loke had intervened in a property dispute between themselves and D'Souza.

Loke has further denied having made two calls, as alleged by the Trindades. ``I made only one call on the mobile number of the Trindades. Earlier, the telephone operator at Sena Bhavan made two phone calls at the Trindades' residence number. But, both these phone calls were deliberately disconnected by the petitioner.''

According to Loke, Trindades are ``compulsive litigants'' who are ``themselves involved in cases of criminal intimidation which are pending in courts of Mumbai, Goa and Delhi''. They had sought Shiv Sena's help in an earlier dispute, he added.

Meanwhile, the division bench of Justice Ajit Shah and J A Patil has posted the hearing of the matter on December 15. The court has ordered Trindades to file a formal complaint with the police regarding the threat calls.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.