The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Chennai police on Wednesday arrested Chairman of Marg Group, GRK Reddy, after a complaint was filed against him for cheating a buyer of Rs. 25 lakh. The complainant had said that despite paying the money, Marg properties had not provided the apartment he has purchased.
According to a press release by the CCB, Abul Mansur, an apartment buyer, had filed a complaint against Marg ProperTies at Greater Chennai police station.
The complainant claimed that he had paid Rs. 25 lakhs and booked an apartment in a Marg project called 'Swarnabhoomi' in Cheyyur taluk. He alleged that he was cheated and the company had absolved itself from the responsibility of building the apartments.
Abul also stated in his complaint that after paying Rs. 25 lakhs, he was told that the apartments were built on Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and it had been taken by the company on a lease of 99 years.
After the investigation, police found that Marg ProperTies had violated the rules which were supposed to be followed in a Special Economic Zone. Moreover, they had failed to provide apartments to buyers and had collected about Rs. 11 crore for this project.
TNM had earlier reported about 4,000 customers, who had invested in the real estate and infrastructure company Marg ProperTies, and were left in a lurch as four projects- Swarnabhoomi, Brindavan and Savithanjali projects in Chennai and Kancheepuram districts were delayed for more than three years.
Another buyer, Ravishankar, who had invested about Rs. 35 lakhs in a project called Savithanjali told TNM, “As of now, only 30 to 40% work has finished in the apartments. The arrest is done but what about the people who have asked for a refund, how will CCB help in getting back the money? Why has arrest been made based on one consumer’s complaint, when 8 people together filed a complaint last year? Why did they not take any action on Savithanjali project? How is RERA going to help consumers to get back their money?" he asked.
According to many who bought houses in these properties, all the three apartment complexes were supposed to have been handed over in 2013. Moreover, the buyers had claimed that properties were sold before they had environmental clearances and the company was demanding more money from them claiming construction prices had gone up.