NOIDA: A builder was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly constructing around 50 flats illegally in Greater Noida’s Shahberi area, police said.
Khushi Ram, aged around 50 years, is the owner of Nidhi Residency where two residential towers with 18 and 32 flats respectively were constructed illegally, they added.
“The accused was held from Vivek Vihar in Ghaziabad on Tuesday morning. He has illegally constructed and sold flats on land belonging to the Greater Noida Authority,” Pradeep Kumar Tripathi, who is heading the special investigation team (SIT) probing illegal construction in Shahberi, said.
On July 17, 2018 two adjoining buildings in Shahberi village had collapsed, leaving nine persons, including a child and two women, dead.
Probe reports by the administration and local authorities had found that the buildings had come up illegally and without any proper approval, as did several other structures that mushroomed over the years in Shahberi, less than 50 km from Delhi.
So far, around 86 FIRs were registered in connection with illegal construction in Shahberi and action was taken against around 50 builders under the Gangsters Act, a senior police official said.
Notably, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had in July 2019 directed officials to ensure tough action against rogue builders and erring government officials.
Source: Press Trust of India