BJP woman councillor in Surat Corporation, kin threaten officials as they demolish illegal construction

Pandesara police inspector N K Kamalia said that they have received a complaint from the deputy engineer against the son of BJP councillor of ward no 23, Geeta Rabari. “We have called the accused mentioned in the complaint and they will get their statements recorded. We will also check whose construction was in progress,” the officer said.

Meanwhile, the Surat Municipal Corporation has clarified that it has issued notices twice on noticing construction going on in its plot reserved for a school-cum-library. “The structure had eight rooms separated by concrete walls and we suspect it was being built by a relative of the councillor,” Assistant Engineer Prakesh Chaudhary said.

“Seeing no action from the other end, our team carried out 90 per cent demolition. The BJP councillor and her family had given threats to our officials who were present at the spot and also to Deputy Engineer N R Chaudhary. They had used abusive language and threatened our officials,” SMC Udhna zonal chief G D Chaudhan said.

SMC officials of Udhna zone – assistant engineers Chandresh Patoriya, Prakshesh Chaudhary, junior engineers Ketan Goswami, Mayur Patel, and Henil Mehta and technical team of encroachment department with security staff – reached the spot at TP scheme no. 56 Bamroli, reservation plot no. R-24 with a total area of 3,390 square meters and started the demolition exercise on seeing nobody at the spot.

Soon after, Geeta Rabari, her husband Teja Rabari and two sons Mayur and Mehul reached the spot along with local residents. She ordered the corporation officials to stop the demolition activities, and a heated exchange of arguments took place between the two parties.

Prakesh Chaudhary said that the councillor and her family had threatened officials to face a stone pelting incident. “As the pressure was building up from the local councillor and others, we told them to talk to Udhna Zone Deputy Engineer N R Chaudhary. In a telephonic conversation with the deputy engineer, Mayur Rabari, son of BJP councillor, had threatened to get him grilled in a bribary case with Anti-Corruption Bureau and used abusive language,” the officer said

He further added that neither the councillor nor her relatives were ready to disclose anything on whose construction work was going on.

Sources said that Deputy Engineer Chaudhary had also handed a copy of the recorded conversation with Mayur Rabari to the police along with the complaint.