Sanjay Kshirsagar got arrested on charges of defrauding home buyers for a Floating Project.

By Abhay Harish Shah, Realty Quarter

On 27th May a Malad-based builder, accused of defrauding homebuyers was arrested. The FIR also includes the name of Atul Prabhu, who is the son of very famous architect Shashi Prabhu.

According to the report, one of the directors of APA Infraventures named Sanjay Kshirsagar started taking bookings for a floated residential project called Mountain View in Malad East. Three years from its launch in October 2010 was the likely date on which the project was supposed to be completed. The buyers started to become alarmed when no construction was started even as the completion date approached.

One of the buyers also a complainant named Mohan Joshi, an IT executive said, that he has paid Rs 88lakhs as a booking amount. Joshi said in his complaint to the MIDC police: “We were all told of this project by an estate broker who died two years ago. He told us that this was the project of the APA Infraventures joint undertaking which is a partnership between Atul Prabhu and Sanjay Kshirsagar.”

This is not the first time that the project has been confronted with criminal problems. The real estate agent Hemantkumar Gupta who invested in the project Rs 3Crore last July also lodged a cheating case against the company named Kshirsagar and Prabhu.

“When I visited the site, the hutments remained intact. This would be an SRA project,” said Gupta, who has booked 32 apartments in the building.

A token of Rs 9lakh was paid by Rajan Mishra, a civil engineer said, I have submitted the legal notice to the firm on January 30. Also, we used to chase the 2 partners continuously and they kept giving us assurances. After some time, they just stopped responding to our calls.

On 25 January, another buyer, Kamal Kishore Joshi, sent a notice alleging that the company had mistreated the money he had paid for booking his flat.

Prabhu refused to be part of the project or the company. He said, “I was only a signatory not a witness to the agreement. I was actually only a technical advisor in the firm. The decision making powers of APA Infraventures were always with Sanjay Kshirsagar and his wife who were also a director.” APA in APA Infraventures does not stand for Atul Prabhu Associates. It is just a coincidence that the original owners have the same initials. He also said that three years ago he resigned from the post. The notices and FIR names me unequivocally as I know nothing about and have no connection with the company’s financial transactions,” he explained.

“Kshirsagar has been brought to court and held in custody by police until 30 May. Investigations on Prabhu’s and the APA Infraventures associates are underway to identify claims,” said an MIDC police officer.