The Crime Branch of the Kerala Police, which has been probing the illegal constructions of the four apartment complexes in Ernakulam’s Maradu municipality in Kerala, raided the offices of three of the builders on Saturday. The four apartment complexes have been ordered to be demolished by the Supreme Court of India for violating the Coastal Regulation Zone norms.
On Saturday, a search and seizure operation was launched by the Crime Branch at the offices of Holy Faith H20, Alfa Serene and Jain Coral Cove and according to a report by the Times of India, the search at Alfa Serene ended by evening but the searches at the other two offices went on till late in the night.
An officer who was part of the search team told TOI that “the primary aim is to fix the responsibility of rules violation on the offenders. We are yet to make a conclusive statement but violations have happened and it has been established. Hence, our job is to fix the responsibility on the offenders.”
The New Indian Express reported that investigation into the illegal construction by the builders was transferred to the Crime Branch by the Kochi city police in September. Investigation into the builders reportedly began after a three-day search at the office of the Maradu municipality, where the search team recovered documents relating to the construction of the apartment complexes.
The four apartment complexes that have been ordered for demolition received the permission for construction before 2005, when Maradu was a gram panchayat. It was upgraded to a municipality in November 2010. Each apartment is estimated to cost between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1.5 crore.
In May earlier this year, the Supreme Court ordered the demolition of the apartments for violating CRZ norms. However, the decision of the court raised several questions as to whether the flat owners were aware of such norms. The verdict was issued following an appeal filed by the Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority (KSCZMA).