Noida: Rudra Group promoter Mukesh Khurana arrested for duping home buyers

4-Nov-2020

A prominent builder of the National Capital Region has been arrested on charges of duping home buyers. The accused, Mukesh Khurana, has been arrested by Noida Police after it received a complaint that a real estate project started by him has not been completed after six years. Khurana is the promoter of Rudra Group of companies which is into the construction of apartments and residential projects. The complainant in the case, Sunita Singh, claimed in 2014 she was lured by advertisements of Rudra Buildwell Reality Private Limited which offered cheap apartments in the NCR area. Khurana offered a seventh floor flat to Singh in Pavo Real Housing Project in Indirapuram area of Ghaziabad. She signed an agreement in July 2014 after paying an initial amount of Rs 25 lakhs. The builder said that project will be completed on time. However, Singh claims that she was not handed over the flat. "Every time we enquired about when he will complete the construction, Khurana gave different excuses. From loans not being disbursed by the bank to government not giving sanction to the project. He also said that he is admitted in the hospital," said Sunita Singh in her complaint. There are several housing projects of Rudra Group which have either been delayed or have not yet started. Earlier this year, the Delhi Police too had filed an FIR against Mukesh after a home buyer claimed he had paid Rs 17 lakh for a flat to be constructed by Rudra Buildwell but never got possession. In October, a Delhi court dismissed the revision petition filed by Rudra which asked for quashing of the FIR. The group is facing several criminal proceedings after hundreds of duped home buyers approached the police and courts for registration of FIR. Promoter of Housing Development Infrastructure Limited, Rakesh Wadhawan, has also been linked with Rudra Buildwell for duping buyers in a housing project in Ghaziabad. Wadhawan was arrested by the Mumbai Police economic offences wing and the Enforcement Directorate in the Punjab Maharashtra Cooperative Bank scam. Last year a study conducted by a real estate consultancy firm said that 4.54 lakh residential units have not been completed in top seven cities. The NCR alone accounted for over 55 percent of such stalled, delayed and incomplete housing projects. In 2019, the Supreme Court has also tried to help home buyers by directing National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited to complete eight stalled projects of Amarpali group comprising 11,258 residential units in Greater Noida and Noida.