Underworld active in Delhi property market?

The booming real estate market in the Capital seems to be attracting the attention of the underworld. Away from the prying eyes of vigilance agencies, the underworld has made massive investments in properties across the city.

A “direct link” between the underworld and prime property came to light in the city recently when some senior officials of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi started receiving mysterious threatening calls asking them to drop plans for demolition of certain buildings.

Unnerved by the calls, the officials are tight-lipped and refuse to divulge anything about them. It is learnt that some of the phone calls originated from places such as Bangkok, Singapore and Dubai. Other calls by unidentified people, from numbers that could not be traced, were reportedly made from Mumbai, Indore, Pune, Goa and Bangalore.

For its part, the MCD is officially continuing with its drive of sealing residential properties which are being misused for commercial purposes besides demolishing unauthorised constructions and removing encroachments from public land. But the process is now going at a snail’s place in view of the mysterious threat calls.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, several senior MCD officials have expressed shock over the underworld connection with properties across the Capital.

“For the first time, we have come to know about the underworld’s interest in the real estate business in Delhi,” an official said.

Inquiries revealed that properties for which the officials were receiving calls from the underworld were mostly located in the posh colonies of South Delhi, including several popular shopping malls and commercial complexes in residential areas.

“Who wants to put his life in danger? This is the reason why we have left quite a number of buildings untouched during the drive,” the official added.

Besides, buildings and commercial establishments in South Delhi, enquiries in MCD’s Building Department have revealed that the underworld has also invested in colonies like Karol Bagh, Lajpat Nagar, Paharganj, Model Town and certain pockets of Pitampura.

“They have even made massive investments in group housing societies in Dwarka, the fast upcoming sub-city in South West Delhi, in league with the builders mafia and property dealers. In fact, many of the housing societies have been virtually taken over by the builders’ mafia who are said to have links with the underworld,” he said.

Those involved in the property business also conceded that the renewed interest of the underworld in the Capital’s real estate market was one of the prime reasons for its boom. “The prices of several properties have been hiked artificially, which reveals the involvement of the underworld. They have in their group certain property dealers and builders who take care of their interest in close nexus with the local civic body officials and politicians. If someone comes in their way, a telephone call from Mumbai, Dubai or Singapore solves all the problems,” said a property dealer who has been in the business for more than two decades.