Deputy Municipal Commissioner R K Sonawane said the action was taken on the Surve Committee's recommendations.

``We have been able to establish the names of officials involved,'' he told the house, adding, ``The administration had already informed the Urban Development Ministry so that action could be initiated against officials who colluded with builders. Mhatre had dug out evidence of widespread corruption in the plan approval process of the Town Planning department.

When his repeated pleas to the erstwhile commissioner Prithviraj Bayas failed, he approached the Lok Ayukta G Khandharia who found ground for suspicion. The Surve committee was then entrusted with the inquiry in April 1997 and submitted its report in September 1997 confirming the LokAyukta's suspicions in 24 instances.

Interestingly, the report which was then circulated in the KDMC showed that the committee had not found anyone guilty. ``Mhatre was called a blackmailer who was going around accusing people of making money,'' corporator Rajan Samant (Sena) told a stunned house. Claiming that a planned attempt had been made to prove Mhatre wrong so that a defamation case could be filed against him, he further demanded that a separate inquiry be conducted to find out those responsible of circulating the false report so that they could be punished.

Criminal complaints have now been lodged at the Vishnu Nagar, Ram Nagar and Manpada police stations against the builders and their architects.