Corporator faces BMC's wrath

mumbai: for the first time in civic history, the brihanmumbai municipal corporation (bmc) will ask the police to book a corporator under the maharashtra prevention of (bootleggers and slumlords) dangerous activities act. peeved at having been forced to return without demolishing the house of suspected al-qaida member mohammad afroze at cheeta camp because of the intervention of local corporator noor mohammad zakariya, the bmc feels it is a fit case for taking action under the law.the act permits the police to detain the offender for a year.the m/east ward staff had gone on monday with bulldozers and police protection to demolish the allegedly illegal structure in which afroze lived. but mr zakariya intervened and sat in front of the bulldozer, disrupting the bmc's work. immediately, a mob of 200 people gathered and, on the advice of the police, the bmc had to beat a hasty retreat. as a result, only 60 per cent of the demolition could be completed. the bmc now plans to raze the structure after ramzan. meanwhile, civic authorities are pressing for action against the corporator. ward officer v.p. prabhu told this newspaper that he had already written to the trombay police station, recommending that mr zakariya be charged under section 353 of the indian penal code for obstructing public officials from performing their duty. senior police inspector of trombay police station v.p. kadam said he had called mr zakariya to record his statement. at 28, mr zakariya, who is an independent corporator from cheeta camp in govandi, is the youngest among the 227 corporators. incidentally, the bmc is already pursuing a case under the maharashtra regional town planning (mrtp) act against him for illegally extending his house at cheeta camp. mr prabhu said, we have given him notices and he had asked for a hearing from deputy municipal commissioner, which was also granted.yet, his ground-plus-one unauthorised structure stands tall. issuing notices under the mrtp act is part of the procedure followed before arresting an offender. mr zakariya had been arrested in 1999 by the anti-corruption bureau (acb) for allegedly accepting a bribe of rs 5,000 from a contractor repairing roads in his area. he was released on bail subsequently. he was also involved in a controversy, in which he was alleged to have sold recommendation letters to cheeta camp residents during an enumeration drive of slum dwellers for a rehabilitation project. zakariya would testify in his letterhead that he had known the resident concerned for the last six years and also that the resident had lived in his hut before 1995, enabling hutment dwellers to be eligible for free housing.the corporator, however, had denied the allegation saying the charges were towards letterhead and typing costs.