Cops register FIR after 18 months of complaint in actor Gehana Vasisth’s Malwani flat case

MUMBAI: After nearly 18 months of submitting a written complaint, several visits to the DCP and a visit to the office of the Mumbai police commissioner, the Malwani police have finally registered an FIR in the matter of Gehana Vasisth’s flat, which was illegally occupied by a group of fraudsters. ALSO READ: In spite of Bombay HC order, Malwani cops fail to arrest accused property grabbers

IndyaTv was the first to report this case last year and in spite of forwarding the posts to several senior police officials, the cops preferred not to act. (Read our original story here and here)

According to a Mid-day report, four people have been booked for allegedly taking over actor Gehana Vasisth’s house at Malwani Sector 8 in Malad West, 18 months after the first complaint was filed in the case.

Vasisth whose real name is Vandana Tiwari, alleged that the tenant and the broker, who had facilitated the original rent agreement back in 2019, created forged documents and gave the flat to another person on payment of a heavy deposit – a practice that is common in Malwani.

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She claimed that she came to know about this in 2021 when the society secretary called her to confirm the name of the tenant. She added that she was not suspicious about it as she was getting the monthly rent and due to the Covid pandemic, she did not bother to physically check on the tenant.

The Malwani police have booked Sujata Shetty, Waseem Moinuddin Shaikh, Ruksana Ansari, and Shoaib Ansari in the case and are investigating the matter.

Gehana who lives in Lokhandwala in Andheri West, in her statement to the cops said she had bought the flat in Malwani Millenium Housing Society in 2018 for Rs 59 lakh after obtaining a bank loan.

She decided to rent out the flat as she had to pay monthly EMIs and hence took help from one Waseem Shaikh, a broker.

In 2019, the flat was accordingly rented out to one Sujata Shetty after following proper legal process. Gehana further alleged that Shaikh and Shetty conspired together and fabricated fake papers and gave the flat to the Ansari family on a heavy deposit of Rs 17 lakh.

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“I came to know about it when the society secretary called me in 2021. I was surprised to know that my tenant, Shetty, with the help of Shaikh had given the flat to the Ansari family. I complained to the Malwani police station in January 2021 but no action was taken by them. So I have also filed a case at the Bandra Court under the Rent Act, which is under process,” she said.

Prior to letting out the flat to the Ansaris, Shaikh and Shetty had given it out in a similar fashion to another tenant, by falsely claiming that the flat was owned by Shetty.

Vasisth told Mid-day, “Meanwhile, I met the former police commissioner Sanjay Pandey because of the lax attitude of Malwani police and showed him all the documents to prove my ownership of the flat. Then, I met the Additional Commissioner of Police (North) and DCP Vishal Thakur of the Borivali Zone. It is finally after 18 months that the Malwani police took action, only upon the prodding of senior officials and filed an FIR, but no action has been taken so far. The accused are roaming freely.”

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Police sources said that Shaikh is not an authorized broker, but surprisingly have endorsed Police Verification forms wherein he is either shown as a broker or witness.

“We have registered a case under sections 420, 406, 465, 467, 468, 471, 504, 506, and 34 of the IPC against the four accused and are investigating the case,” said an officer from Malwani police station, adding that no arrest has been made so far.