Demolition of NiMo’s Alibaug mansion halted

Mumbai; Since the past three days, the demolition of the Alibaug bungalow of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi that was started barely days ago, has been stalled to retrieve imported fittings and furniture for selling purposes.

After starting the pulling down, ordered by the district collector of Raigad, the authorities found that the bungalow had plush furniture along with two high-end cars parked in the premises. No sooner, the process of pulling down was stopped, but is set to resume soon.

Raigad district collector Vijay Suryavanshi last month ordered demolition of 58 unauthorised structures, including that of Modi, located in Kihim along Alibaug beach.

The order came after the Bombay high court pulled up district authorities for not taking action against illegal structures. The court orders came in the wake of these properties falling in the low tide and high tide areas.

The property belonging to Modi was subsequently attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the PNB bank fraud case.

“The demolition was stopped temporarily because the district authorities and the ED wanted to recover the maximum cost from the bungalow by removing the expensive fittings,” said an officer from the Raigad collector’s office.

The said exotic fittings, valuable fixtures, window grills, other utensils, two luxurious cars, cushions, glass frames, fixtures at the plush swimming pool and spa, along with furniture made from Burma teak, will be removed after which demolition will resume.

The items will be sold and the money will be part of the recovery made in the case.

Demolition of Modi’s sea-facing bungalow in Alibaug had began on January 25, after it was declared illegal by state authorities. The officials had said that bungalow was illegally built, violated coastal regulation zone (CRZ) norms and the state's regulations as well.