Housing project for constables in dock

Former DG of police has alleged that a top IPS officer of the state is trying to stall the project

The low-cost housing project for police constables in Ghatkopar (East) is in the news once again. TK Choudhary, former director general of police and member of the Shanti Sagar Police Co-operative Housing Society at Pant Nagar, has alleged the role of a top state police official in stopping the project, work on which started in 2001.

"A top IPS officer from the state police is trying to stall the project being undertaken by former Deputy Commissioner of Police SR Kapse to provide economical houses to police constables," said Choudhary.

Choudhary said few members of the police housing society, who were given possession of flats, have collectively not paid maintenance charges amounting to Rs1.39 crore for the past two years. The cops have also not paid transit camp maintenance charges of Rs1.76 crore.

To avoid making payments, Choudhary alleged that a few constables, including Arun Chalke, had lodged false complaints with the state Central Bureau of Investigation (CID) on March 24, 2005, at the instance of the IPS officer in question.

The state CID conducted an inquiry into the allegations, but did not find anything irregular. Choudhary told DNA that when the inquiry failed to bring any results, the IPS officer asked Chalke to lodge a complaint of fraud of Rs10 crore against Kapse. Accordingly, the complaint was lodged at the Pant Nagar police station on July 14, pressuring him to leave the project.

To provide economical houses to police constables, Kapse had taken up the matter with the state government and Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA) from 1995. He was successful in getting a plot of 13.5 acres from the state government in 1999 at Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar in Ghatkopar (East).

Construction started in 2001 and 14 completed buildings with 494 flats were allotted to police constables at the rate of Rs875 per sqft on May 9, 2005, at a time when the market rate for the said property was Rs3500 per sqft. Interestingly, Kapse has returned Rs8.90 crore to more than 2,000 police personnel who had requested for a refund owing to their domestic difficulties.

So far, low cost houses have been provided to more than 1,000 police constables and another 4,000 houses are being planned in the next 10 months.