Goyal’s first love, land-grabbing: Neighbours

In Shahdara, shopkeepers and residents also allege that Goyal is a land-grabber. His first love has always been the property business, they say. “Joining politics and becoming a Shiv Sainik was an attempt to earn respectability,” says Mangelal Jain, a buinessman in Shahdara Chowk.

Jain and others point out that Goyal used his influence in the property business to corner a plot of land belonging to the MCD at Shahdara Chowk and construct a building there. This land used to be a stand for phatpatias and autorickshaws before Goyal moved in.

The building, which is still under construction, displays a board Shiv Properties’ on the ground floor. An adjoining room on the same floor and two on the first floor house the Shiv Sena office.

Goel says he has nothing to do with Shiv Properties; it’s run by a relative. He also says he has nothing to do with Goyal Properties which has an office in East Rohtas Nagar in northeast Delhi; his elder brother owns the concern. His only source of income, he says, is from metal works factory in East Rohtas Nagar.

But one of Goyal’s confidantes, Bharat Kumar, in his office-cum-Shiv Sena office says that the Goyal family “are very well-known in the property business” and are accomplished builders. A recent example, says the confidante, requesting anonymity, are some flats constructed at Jaffrabad, also in northeast Delhi.

Satish Sharma, northeast district Congress committee president, who also has an office in Shahdara Chowk, says he has known Jai Bhagwan Goyal for many years. “Jai Bhagwan is basically a property broker, one shouldn’t call him a property dealer. He uses strong-arm tactics to force people to buy and sell property. Before the BJP came to power in Delhi in 1991, he was a nobody. Today, he makes crores,” adds Sharma. The Congress leader also alleges that Goyal’s men take hafta from cyclerickshaw drivers and cartpullers for allowing them to park their vehicles outside his office. Goyal’s men, however, deny such allegations. “The Congress knows we mean business, so they try to blame us for everything,” says a Goyal confidante, Bharat Kumar.

“Bal Thackeray, hamare no. 1 neta hain, Goyal saab hain number 2 (Bal Thackeray is our number 1 leader, Goyal is number 2),” Bharat says, as he deals with a client seeking information on whether flats are available in Shahdara.

The Shahdara police are reluctant to verify the allegations against Goyal, who has at least nine criminal cases registered against him in various police stations in the Capital. “Let us arrest him, we will know more,” says an official.