Lahoria case: 1,500-page chargesheet filed against architect

Times of India: Mumbai: Wednesday, 06 August 2014.

The city crime branch on Tuesday filed a 1,500-page supplementary chargesheet against architect Anurag Garg, one of the main accused in the Navi Mumbai builder Sunil Lahoria murder case.

Sources said that the chargesheet came just a day before he was to complete the stipulated jail period of 90 days or else he would have been entitled to regular bail. This is the fifth chargesheet the crime branch has filed in the case so far.

In May this year, the police had filed 1,800-page chargesheet against eight accused, including former encounter specialist Emmanual Amolik and builder Suresh Bijlani, who are also accused in the murder case. The police had claimed that Garg had grudges against Lahoria as he had filed a few RTI applications and due to which his two buildings were demolished and a few had come under the scanner.

"Garg also feared that his license as architect would be permanently cancelled and hence he, along with a common rival Bijlani, hatched a conspiracy and killed Lahoria," said the chargesheet.

Interestingly, in the supplementary chargesheet, the cops have stated that Garg's driver Kisan Bhosle had given statement supporting the police theory. Bhosle's statement was recorded under section 164 CrPC before a magistrate that said that though he was Garg's driver, his salary was paid by Bijlani and after the killing, it was he who went to a garage carrying Rs 10 lakh to hand over to Amolik. In the chargesheet, police have also tried to show how Bijlani, Garg and Amolik were closely linked and had the common motive to kill Lahoria.

On February 16, 2013, two men posing as private security guards opened fire at Lahoria at point-blank range and slashed him with a chopper as the builder walked towards his office in Vashi's sector 28. Later it emerged that Amolik was given the contract to kill Lahoria by Bijlani and Garg.