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His building killed 100, he’s on the run,
his files missing
JOYDEEP RAY
First, a ready reckoner on Satish Shah of S N Builders: He's the
builder of Shikhar Apartments which crumbled to dust on January
26, killing 100 residents. Shah also threatened survivors from filing
a police complaint, got some of them beaten up and then issued an
affidavit which painted him as a honest-to-goodness builder who
had saved lives.
The saga of Satish Shah, who is absconding, is getting murkier. A crucial file relating to construction details of Shikhar Apartments has disappeared from the office of the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA). The two AUDA officials responsible for custody of all the files related to construction works, are also missing. Late on Friday, police issued summons against the Assistant Town Planners, R B Joshi and K J Gajjar, but they were untraceable till Saturday night.
An official spokesperson of AUDA, while admitting that the vital file "is not with us'', added that "we hope to locate it soon''. AUDA officials maintain two files: One contains pre-construction records and the other, records of building usage permission, approval of engineers and architects, signatures of AUDA officials along with their comments. "This second file is surprisingly missing,'' said Assistant Commissioner, G L Singhal, special officer in-charge of the case.
Commissioner of police P C Pande has issued an arrest warrant for Shah under provisions of Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act on Saturday evening. A case of rioting, besides charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery is already pending against Shah.
Shah may be underground, but his presence still looms large for the survivors. The affidavit that's lying in office which he expects the survivors to sign is a paean to his greatness. It reads: "We have never known a builder like Satish Shah who is a very nice person. He has been very good to us throughout the tragedy and has provided all kind of assistance on humanitarian grounds...We are sure that he will be a good person always... We have no grievances against him and will not file any police complaints... We will give Rs 5 lakh each to him and accept the new flats he is providing us...''
"Last week, he wanted us to sign affidavits that we wouldn't file police complaints against him and accept whatever flats he gives us in lieu of our flats at Shikhar,'' a former flat-owner, Falguni Patel said. "On Thursday, Shah redrafted the affidavit. He wanted us to sign a document which read as if he had been a guardian angel for us.''
"We don't trust his claim to give a flat against a flat, so we asked him to show us the scheme to see if had been approved by AUDA, the state government and the Police Commissioner. But he wasn't willing,'' a member of the newly formed Shikhar Flat-owners Association said.
"He has also put the condition that the relief of Rs two lakh each flat-owner is entitled to would be handed over to him. He insists that all of us apply for the low interest government loan of Rs three lakh and give the entire amount to him,'' added association secretary Rahul Purohit.
Shah is also threatening the members to accept flats in the badly damaged Yash Towers, or simply forget all about getting a flat at all.
Police say they've launched a manhunt for Shah. Additional Commissioner, sector I, Shivanand Jha, dismisses the allegation that Shah is being protected by influential people. "When I am arresting other builders, what prevents me from arresting Shah? He is absconding, but will be picked up soon,'' promised Jha.
Other stories in the series
»
Buck-passing
shatters survivors' hopes
» In
Ahmedabad, crooks build dreams to let them crash
» Officials,
professionals hand in glove with builders
» The
politician is the builder's best friend here
»
Builders were crooks,
govt was an accomplice
» They built on quicksand of greed
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