KOCHI: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of crime branch probing the illegal appropriation of government land and violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms by the builders of high-rise apartments in Maradu, arrested three persons on Tuesday.
This is the first arrest by the police after the controversy over the illegal construction of five high-rise apartment complexes overlooking the Vembanadu lake in Maradu.
Director of one of the construction companies and two retired Maradu grama panchayat officials have been arrested on charges of corruption and criminal misconduct of a public servant, police said.
Sani Francis, director of Holy Faith Builders and Developers Pvt Ltd, and Mohammed Ashraf and P E Joseph, who were the secretary and the junior superintendent respectively of the Maradu panchayat (now it's a municipality) when the permissions were granted for the construction of apartment complexes flouting CRZ norms were arrested by the police.
The SIT had collected the statements of all the three builders prior to the arrest.
The arrested have been charged with Sections 13 (1) and 13 (2) governing the criminal misconduct of a public servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), said an officer with Crime Branch.
He said that more arrests are likely in the coming days. The investigation team is also likely to recover more documents from the parties concerned in the coming days. The SIT is probing the illegal appropriation of government land and violation of CRZ norms by the builders.
The SIT has sought the government's permission to slap charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act on the builders and officials who sanctioned the construction of the apartment complexes in violation of CRZ norms. A petition had also been filed before the Muvattupuzha Vigilance Court seeking action against the officials who permitted the construction. The SIT had earlier conducted simultaneous searches at the offices of the three builders.
Meanwhile, the SIT is carrying out multiple tasks simultaneously. Apart from collecting statements of apartment owners and other parties associated with the builders, they are also verifying the hundreds of documents they had seized from the Maradu municipality and the offices of the builders.
Earlier, J Paul Raj, director of Alfa Ventures had filed the petition before the Ernakulam District Principal and Sessions Court. The court posted the hearing to Wednesday.