Builder146;s block

THE spot where her bloodied body hit the ground is still a shade lighter than the surrounding grey of the terrace, two-and-a-half years on. ...

THE spot where her bloodied body hit the ground is still a shade lighter than the surrounding grey of the terrace, two-and-a-half years on.

At 7.30 am on June 19, 2002, social activist Navleen Kumar was stabbed 19 times by four assailants as she walked her dogs on the terrace of Nirman Prabhat, a residential building amidst a cluster of concrete in Mumbai8217;s far north-western suburb of Nallasopara.

In a fast track court, her case until recently looked as if it would fall apart for want of evidence. But there8217;s a ray of hope now8212;the State Criminal Investigation Department CID has applied for reinvestigation under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act MCOCA.

Their contention: Since the murder was committed in an organised manner, it deserves to be studied afresh.

At the moment, the case in the fast track court has been stayed, while the CID has been given four months to investigate and return to the special MCOCA court in May.

THE reinvestigation is not going to be easy, though. Although Kumar lived with her kids in the three-storey Nirman Prabhat for almost two decades, not a single neighbour or resident of the adjoining buildings8212;with a clear view of the terrace8212;has come forth as witness. Worse, of the four killers, only one is alive.

	New Look
	8226; Of the four alleged killers, only one is alive. Three were killed in inter-gang rivalry 8226; With the case falling apart for want of evidence in the fast track court, the CID filed for reinvestigation under MCOCA in November, 2004 8226; The case is stayed in the fast track court and will come up for hearing under MCOCA in May Story continues below this ad

The others, members of a gang from an adjoining suburb, were killed in what investigating officials term a 8216;8216;convenient8217;8217; inter-gang scuffle a mere four months after the murder. The fourth, Samir Ansari, in judicial custody, refuses to talk.

Accused Ganesh Patil, allegedly the middle man, says he8217;s been framed. Main accused and alleged mastermind Manik Patil is serving a life sentence in Pune8217;s Yerwada Jail for the 1989 broad daylight shooting of builder Suresh Dube, also in Nallasopara.

Each time an arrest warrant is issued in his name for the Navleen Kumar murder, Patil gets himself admitted into a private nursing home in Pune claiming high blood pressure and a heart problem. His interrogation so far have been 8216;8216;futile8217;8217;, say investigators, because of these 8216;8216;ailments8217;8217;. What makes all this convenient, allege investigators, are his political connections.

From the early 1980s, Patil served as first lieutenant to the suburb8217;s most prominent land grabbing don, Bhai Thakur. Thakur in turn is the elder brother of independent MLA Hitendra Thakur, who enjoys the support of the state8217;s Congressmen.

Kumar was killed a day before she was to testify before a Terrorist And Disruptive Activities Prevention Act TADA Court in Pune against Bhai Thakur, the main accused in the Suresh Dube murder case.

Story continues below this ad

BUT even before Kumar turned witness, her fight against the builder mafia had brought her in the firing line. The petite, determined woman fought for the Adivasis of Nallasopara, winning back land grabbed from them in the 1970s-80s when the northern suburbs became hot property in a bursting metropolis.

In Part I of her book Living With Terror, Kumar meticulously documented Nallasopara8217;s builder-goon-bureaucrat nexus. Their modus operandi was simple. It meant either threatening or getting the illiterate Adivasis to sign on a piece of paper once they were drunk, saying that they had 8216;8216;sold8217;8217; their protected-by-law land.

Kumar, viewed as a growing threat, along with her family, faced several threats. On June 19, 2002, she succumbed to them.