Published: Monday, Dec 24, 2012, 9:30 IST
By Dilnaz Boga | Place: Mumbai

 

After RTI activist Aijaz Ahmed Khan was gunned down on December 15 near Jogger’s Park in Andheri, residents of Millat Nagar feel they have lost their pillar of support and are afraid that they will lose their homes to the underworld in the name of ‘development’.

“Members of the Dawood Ibrahim gang are trying to grab our property by forging paperwork. Khan, who was against them, had been threatened,” said a resident, on the condition of anonymity.
Residents said that in the last few months, gang members and their families have bought homes in the society and are threatening them to agree to the redevelopment plan.

A member of the Millat Nagar Core Committee for Deemed Conveyance said, “There are 15 buildings and 1,300 flats on the 17-acre plot and is estimated to cost Rs6,500 crore. Gang members who have moved in threaten us with weapons. We’ve been told that two more people will face the same fate as Khan.”

The residents have lodged complaints with the police in the past about some gang members selling cocaine in the premises. However, no action has been taken by authorities. “After Khan was shot dead, some gang members were seen hobnobbing with officers from Oshiwara police station at the scene of the crime,” said a resident. The group is thinking of holding a meeting with the police commissioner and minister of state for the home department RR Patil.
The police have arrested two persons in connection with the shoot-out and are on the lookout for another shooter Abrar Khan, who is said to have links in Dubai.

Joint commissioner of police Himanshu Roy said, “The investigation is in progress and it would be premature for me to comment. We are on the lookout for the prime accused and we’ll know more when we get him.