The office of the commissioner central excise is contemplating to take over the sprawling bungalow of gangster Iqbal Mirchi at Shyamla Hills. Mirchi, a close aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, was arrested in the UK recently.
About a year ago, the central excise had sent a proposal to Mumbai regarding acquiring Mirchias property. However, the government, in its reply, clarified that any property attached under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act, 1976 can be procured by a government department only in case if no buyer turns up in at least five auctions. The excise department has so far tried to auction the property three times, but it failed to find any taker.
Deputy commissioner of central excise Arvind Saran told TOI that two more auctions are required before any government department could take over Mirchias premises. asWe are waiting for directions from FEMA, Mumbai, before going for the next auction,a? he added.
The Upper Lake facing bungalow number 18 at the Nadir Colony came into limelight after the police recovered the body of Abdullah, alias Anil Sharma, an accused in the T-Series owner Gulshan Kumar murder case.
The current market value of the property, which is spread over an area of about 10,000 square feet, is estimated to be worth over Rs 10 crore. The house, popularly known as a?Angrezan Ka banglaa, was earlier owned by a British lady. Mirchi bought the property in his wifeas name.
In the last auction in 2007, a Mumbai-based company reportedly pulled its hands back after depositing the security amount. Similarly, the other two auctions carried out by the excise department could not find a genuine buyer for the property.
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