Building contractor charged with attempted expropriation of musician's property

Oshiwara police have booked a builder for allegedly trying to usurp the property of a musician using forged documents, including the forged signature of the musician's late father. In his police complaint on September 5, 50-year-old Edward Gonsalves stated that he owns house number 49 in Oshiwara village, SV Road, Jogeshwari West.

According to the FIR, he visited the property on January 27 and found that the lock was broken. On further investigation, Gonsalves came to know that the accused, Mohammad Rafiq Mohammad Hussain Tinwala, the owner of Mega Developers, had committed trespass, the FIR said.

The duo then approached the Oshiwara police and the complainant produced the original property documents. However, when Tinawala was asked to produce the papers, he excused himself by saying that they were kept at his home and he would soon return with it, the FIR further stated. The accused never returned, Gonsalves pointed out, adding that he later found out that Tinawala had created a fake Gumasta license for the same property. This is a mandatory registration required for all businesses in Maharashtra.

Gonsalves then approached the BMC and found that Tinawala had applied for the license for 2022. However, the civic body did not provide a detailed list of documents he had submitted for registration. In February, Gonsalves obtained information through the Right to Information Act and made a shocking discovery, according to the FIR. He came to know that the builder had allegedly submitted a fake photograph and his late father's signature on the Gumasta application.

Gonsalves' father had died in 2016, but Tinawala had used another person's photograph instead of his father, the FIR said. The lawyer's signature and stamp on the agreement were also fake, he added. Tinawala had submitted these fake documents to the BMC to acquire the property illegally, Gonsalves alleged.

A case was brought for fraud, dishonesty and forgery.