Noida: Six from private developer booked over misconduct with revenue officials

Noida: Police booked six officials of a private developer in Noida on Monday for allegedly holding a revenue officer and two other officials hostage in the lift of a building, which they were supposed to seal, for one hour on January 5 this year.

Ram Krishna, naib tehsildar (deputy revenue officer) of Dadri, said in his complaint that he and the two officials of the revenue team went to Supertech Limited’s E Square project site in Noida Sector 96 on January 5, in connection with a recovery notice, police said on Wednesday.

“Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority (UPRERA) issued a recovery notice of ₹112 crore against the developer last year. We went to seal the 24th and 25th floors of the building on January 5, as the developer had not cleared the dues. We were inside the lift on the 4th floor along with the security guard of the building, when the developer deliberately switched off the power supply, and we were stranded inside the lift for one hour,” Krishna said.

He also said that they struggled to get out of the lift but could not. “We could have fainted inside the lift as there was no ventilation… We informed our seniors, who reached the spot and rescued us,” he added.

The developer allegedly played the same trick twice in the past — on September 17 and December 30 last year — too, Krishna mentioned in the FIR.

Officials of the revenue team sealed the premises later that day, and filed a complaint against six officials of the private developer who have been involved in the project, including the chairman of Supertech Limited, RK Arora, at the Sector 39 police station on January 5.

A case has been registered against the six suspects under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 342 (wrongful consignment), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) on December 10, said Rajeev Kumar, station house officer (SHO) of Sector 39 police station.

“We are investigating the matter and action will be taken soon,” Kumar said.

A spokesperson of Supertech Limited, however, said, “The lift malfunctioned due to some technical issues. We called the technicians and rescued the people from the lift.”