NMC begins razing Ambekar’s famed ‘Rs10 crore bungalow’

Nagpur: The sprawling 10,000 square feet land at Darodkar chowk on which tea boy-turned-don Santosh Ambekar’s constructed a mansion valued at Rs10 crore was partially demolished by the enforcement wing of the Nagpur municipal corporation (NMC) on Tuesday.
The demolition of the remaining part of the structure will continue on Wednesday. Nearly 8,640 sq feet of the don’s den was constructed illegally.
This is round two of the demolition process carried out by NMC.
In the first leg that took place on December 4 last year, the top storey and a shop on the ground floor of Ambekar’s another four-storeyed property, ‘Athawan’, also at Darodkar chowk, were demolished.
Ambekar and his close aides were arrested in October last year for duping and threatening a Gujarat-based businessman. At least 13 offences were registered against Ambekar following various complaints since October last year. He was also booked for the fifth time under Maharashtra control of organized crime Act (MCOCA).
NMC sources told TOI that Ambekar constructed the bungalow on the lines of Rajput-style architecture. He illegally amalgamated three plots and also took unauthorized possession of a part of a garden as well as a portion of the land meant for a gymnasium.
As per the records, Ambekar had clubbed the plots owned by him, his wife Neha and one Amarchand Mehta to construct the bungalow. The don had carried out illegal construction on 7,766 sq feet land owned by Mehta, 651 sq feet of construction on Neha’s plot and more than 226 sq feet construction on the plot owned by him. The three plots were earmarked for demolition.
Asst municipal commissioner of NMC’s enforcement department, Ashok Patil, stated that a notice was served to Ambekar on December 16 last year under relevant sections of the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance And Redevelopment) Act, 1971. “The notice of demolition was challenged and an appeal was filed but it was subsequently vacated on February 24 this year. The occupants had claimed that there was a second appeal but no documents were produced,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Ambekar’s family feebly tried to convince Patil that there was an appeal filed by their advocate. Ambekar’s son Sanchit, who is in his early 20s, showed Patil some documents but had to relent later as the NMC officer said they lacked substance to halt action. Patil was accompanied by enforcement inspector Sanjay Kamble and other staffers from NMC’s Gandhibagh Zone.
Senior PI Narendra Hiware of Lakadganj police station, API Pankaj Dharge of crime branch and other officials were present with sizeable manpower. Women cops had to be deployed as Ambekar’s wife Neha and other relatives were present.
Hiware said that adequate time was given to the Ambekar family to produce documents to stop the NMC action but nothing concrete was produced.
Two JCB excavators and a poclaine machine were pressed into action after a delay of around one-and-half hours. Till sunset, a substantial portion of the bungalow was demolished from the northern side.