Vol.12 Issue 12
Inside
Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media, Bangalore
Rs.47 crore swindled by builders, investors allege By Nikita Malusare
T
wo builder brothers who owe customers over Rs. 47 crore have vanished into thin air leaving behind empty building plots and hundreds of angry investors. Over 2000 cases are registered against Aishwarya Buildtech Pvt Ltd at Bangalore Consumer Dispute Forum.
Page 2 : Police yet to identify murdered man
Bhaskar Reddy (Left) , the managing director of Aishwarya Buildtech is absconding, while T.R.Reddy (Right) was arrested by Central Crime branch in June, but was released on bail and is now absconding. (File pictures)
Bhaskar Reddy sought investors by circulating advertorials, classified ads and hand bills which promised luxurious apartments and villas along with a club house, party hall, a modern, wellequipped gym, tennis and badminton courts and round-the-clock security. The lands used to advertise the projects by the company are classified under agricultural lands and have failed to receive clearance form Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRD). “Every time I enquired about the progress of the project, they assured me that they would receive approval in a few months,” said Poonam. S, one of the victims. Gandhi Law Chambers, consumer lawyers who have been handling over 300 cases of Aish-
are above law.” he added. After three years when the investors saw no progress in the project, they demanded either a plot in some other project or to refund their money. “After a heated argument with Mr. Bhaskar, he refunded the money through cheques, however, all the cheques that he issued were back dated and they bounced”, said Sarveswara Reddy. After complaints were registered at Tilak Nagar, Mahalaxmi and Basveshwara police stations, investors finally approached Consumer Forum Court to get a refund of their payment at 18% per annum.
Aishwarya Buildtech Private Ltd was started in 2004 by Bahaskar Reddy andT.R. Reddy, Managing director and Chairman of hte company respetively ;Shankar G ; P.S. Bhanu Prakash and Mohan Kumar were the other directors of the company.
Gandhi Law Chambers said, “Many cases are pending at the City Crime Branch. Almost 1,000 consumer cases have been decided against Reddy brothers and his associates for deficiency in service under Consumer Protection Act, 1986. But more than 2,000 cases are still pending in the Bangalore Urban Consumer Forum Court.Pratap Kumar, a consumer lawyer, believes that media should act responsible before advertising any firm.
It had initiated ten projects, namely Aishwarya County at Hosakerehalli, New County , My Citi , Global Citi, Arezona, Shubham, Samyukhta Enclave, Presidency Royal , My county and Royal Enclave. These projects promised apartments with high class facilities in the city to the investors, who were both from Bangalore and outside.
Page 2 : RTO touts make a killing
25 October 2012
Nikita Malusare & Kriti Khandelwal
Other projects initiated by the group in the city are New County; My Citi’ Presidency Royal’ and My county. Inset is the graph of the locations which remain empty even after eight years since the project, Aishwarya County, was initiated.
warya Builders said, “No land except the Arezona land has received residential clearance form BMRDA. If they have purchased any land, they have sold it to a third party. A sum of almost Rs 120 crore is involved in these projects. ” “With an intention to own a site in the proposed layout called Aishwarya Darshan Country, I made an initial sale consideration of Rupees 2, 45,000 on April 1, 2004. Within a period of three months, the sale transaction was to be completed,” said Venkateshwarulu Kaisetty, another victim.
Depending on different projects and locations, the initial payment varied from Rs. 2, 37,000 to Rs. 4, 37,000. Atul Sharma, who had booked a corner plot in the project named New City in Bidadi, had to pay Rupees 6 Lakhs which was one third of the cost of the site. Trinadh Pala, who invested 7.5 Lakhs in Arezona project said, “When I asked their agent, Mr. Prabhakar Rao to return my money, he advised me to go to court or to the police.” “I can do nothing to them, they
He said, “Strict actions should be taken against such tainted tycoons, so that next time no builder will dare to cheat the public. Media should thoroughly check the history and details of the company before advertising them. Because, at the end of the day people blindly believe the papers. ”It’s been over a year that the Reddy brothers have been absconding. The verdicts are passed in the consumer forum only in the presence of the Reddy’s lawyer. The Aishwarya offices are completely vacant and their telephone numbers do not work. Investors from across the city of Aishwarya Buildtech are, through social networking, fighting hard to get back their money. The Observer team was unable to contact Aishwarya Builders by telephone, or through its lawyers.
Deaths mount at Agara Lake By Sumit, Deepu Aby
L
ocal residents living near a treacherous lake say it has claimed over 20 lives this year.
Page 3: Bangalore streets are still dumps
A carton factory worked drowned in Agara lake on October 21 despite repeated warnings from locals that security there should be stepped up. Rakesh, from Chamrajpet, was swimming with friends when he ventured into deep water. “All of us planned to swim in the shallow
water. Rakesh advanced towards the deeper side and by the time we warned him, he was gone”said Raju, a friend of Rakesh who was with him on the fateful day. Panicked by the turn of events, his friends informed the police. Thepolice were unable to trace the body and it was only the next day than his body was recovered. Residents say that outsiders keep visiting the lake and sometimes things turn messy when they get involved in activities such asdrinking. “Many times groups of
students visit the lake. It is okay if they restrict themselves to swimming but there are times when they indulge in drinking and this leads to trouble,” said Raghu, a shopowner in Agara. The broken beer bottles and disposable glasses scattered around thelake are an eyesore for locals. This is also a factor that troublethe villagers. “There have been more than 20 deaths this year alone.The lake is not so deep but if you swim towards the centre, chancesare that you might invite
trouble” said Santhosh, another shopkeeperfrom Agara. Agara Lake falls under the Panchayat. It funds fishing in the lake but no security measures have been provided by the Panchayat. Despite a number of complaints by residents no action has been taken. A police spokesman in declined to comment on the death toll at the lake. Drink and drug plague, kills. Page 3 >>>