`Most wanted' builder to be produced in court today

`Most wanted' builder to be produced in court today
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

AHMEDABAD, MARCH 3: Satish Shah, builder of Shikhar Apartments here in which 98 persons were killed when earthquake struck on January 26, was arrested by Satellite police on Saturday afternoon after a chase that lasted more than a month.

The most wanted builder in Ahmedabad, who faces several criminal charges, will be produced before the Sessions Court on Sunday and police will seek remand for further investigation.

The city police had been keeping a close eye on Shah's likely hideouts. Following an tip-off that he might be hiding somewhere in Surat where construction of the Someshwara Complex, another dream-project of the builder has been going on, Additional Commissioner (Sector-I), Shivanand Jha tipped off his Surat city counterpart, Asish Bhatia. The Surat Police questioned some of his relatives and business partners.

``On Friday night, a close relative of Satish informed us that he is willing to surrender before the police on Saturday morning. But we did not take a chance. When we learnt that he was seen somewhere near Shivranjani Char Rasta with one of his friends, our team picked him up from there,'' Assistant Commissioner of Police G L Singhal said.

Meanwhile, on Monday, a petition filed earlier by Satish, questioning justification of a PASA detention order against him, will be heard by the Gujarat High Court.

The criminal case against Satish Shah was registered under Sections 304, 420, 467 and 120-B of IPC by Senior Inspector of Satellite police station, F.A. Gohil. His associate engineer and architect, along with officials of the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA), were also named in the case. Satish was missing from his residence in Pushakdhenu Bungalows in Vastrapur ever since the case was registered on February 6. ``We registered a case against Sanjay Shah, architect of the high-rise and also against Rounak Shah, a close relative of Satish and Chairman of Gairetpur Bhagyalakshmi Co-operative Society under similar provisions of the Indian Penal Code,'' Singhal, who was specially assigned to investigate building collapse cases in Satellite and Vejalpur area, said.

Satish was kept in the Satellite police station for about an hour on Saturday afternoon, till the investigating officers decided to move him to the Vejalpur police station. ``We have to complete a lot of documentation and interrogation of the accused. We also feared that there could be a retaliation from angry residents, so we moved him to Vejalpur police lock-up from where he will be escorted to court,'' Gohil said.

``Once the procedures in court regarding the case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, cheating, forgery and hatching criminal conspiracy are over on Sunday, the builder will be handed over to Navrangpura police where a case of rioting also has been lying pending,'' Singhal added.