Chapter 426 Demolition of Illegal Buildings
"What's the matter? Is there anything that a first-class police inspector like you can't handle?" Ron sat down on the sofa without any hesitation.
"If there is, it must be related to the great Mr. Sur." Ajie said unhappily.
"Huh?" Ron, holding his coffee, was stunned. "Does it have anything to do with me?"
"Not really, but I think it's best for you to come forward."
"Okay, I'm all ears." Ron shrugged, looking around his office.
Aijie was promoted again in the past two years to the first-class police inspector, the de facto third-in-command of the Mabang Police Station.
Above them are the Special Inspector General of Police and the Inspector General of Police. The former is the boss in a certain field, and the latter is the highest chief of the state police.
As the third in command, the first-level police inspector has considerable power and is in charge of 14 core departments, such as the Criminal Department, the Intelligence Bureau, the Civil Department,
Not only that, he also manages several police districts, which is quite large in scope.
Of the 72 police stations in Mumbai, 56 need to report to him, and the number of staff is too numerous to count.
Look, even the office has been changed. It’s bigger than the previous one and there’s a female secretary.
After thanking the other party for the snacks, Ron raised an eyebrow at Aggie.
"You're quite good at enjoying yourself, but I wonder if Ritu has any objections?"
"Stop talking nonsense and eat your snack."
Aijie coughed uncomfortably. Ritu was his wife, so it was better to talk less about things like secretaries.
"Do you know what's going on in Mumbai recently?" He put away his expression.
"What do you mean?"
“The slums.”
"Oh," Ron suddenly realized, "demolition of illegal buildings?"
"Yes, this is what the city hall is determined to do."
As soon as the dust settled on the general election at the beginning of the year, the BJP government in Maharashtra was ready to clean up the chaos in Mumbai's slums.
There are too many places with illegal construction. If this continues, the normal operation of the city will be affected.
"Shouldn't Kellner be responsible for this kind of thing? He's known as the 'King of Demolition'." Ron was a little puzzled.
“The city hall is understaffed, and some of them have unusual architectural backgrounds, so they need the police’s cooperation.”
"So this background has something to do with me?" Ron suddenly realized.
"New Federation." Aijie said expressionlessly.
"Dude, I'm not a gang member. How can you slander my innocence out of thin air?"
"If they knew what was best for them, I wouldn't have come after you. But they're too arrogant. If they keep going like this, the police will have to take action."
"I see." Ron also became serious.
He understood what Ajie meant. This was a way for him to greet him in advance and also for him to pass on a message to the New Federation.
It's a bit like using courtesy before force. In short, with Ajie's temper, he will never succumb to the threats of the gang.
“Where is the illegal construction?”
"I'll take you there." Aijie said decisively.
Several leaders of the new federation built a number of huts on the railway land.
Ajie took Ron straight to their destination. They passed through a dark alley and entered an open space.
The low concrete buildings above are dormitories for railway employees, scattered among them are huts that were recently demolished and rebuilt.
Beyond that was a larger open space, the railway bureau's garbage dump. They walked along wooden boards placed over an open sewage pipe to the edge of the dump, where they could see the lights of the suburban trains as they passed.
It had just rained heavily, and the ground was muddy. Ron's wellies were splattered with mud and other stains that he didn't want to imagine what they were.
"Over there," Aijie pointed to him, "that row of huts with oil lamps on are all owned by the New Federation. They treat this as their own private land."
"It looks like a lot."
"Of course, they are relying on this land to make a fortune." Aijie said disdainfully.
According to Indian law, ownership of a piece of land can be acquired after it has been continuously occupied for 12 years.
This is called prescribed possession, which is backed by law.
It is obvious that in a place like Mumbai, any piece of land is very valuable, even if it is near a railway.
Aijie said that this row of huts were definitely illegal buildings.
However, the new federation gave the land to the poor for free to ensure that they had the right to use the land.
The Railway Bureau sent people to dismantle the hut twice, and both times they rebuilt it.
The houses were built against a concrete wall that belonged to the factory next door. In front of the houses, two bamboo poles supported various cardboard sheets, and layers of black tarpaulin covered the outside.
These simple building materials were obtained by the New Federation from Goregaon, costing only 1,500 rupees. If they were demolished, they could be rebuilt in just an hour.
"If you kick it a couple more times, the house will collapse," said Aij.
If the huts were demolished for the third time, the new union would still rebuild them, and might even consider laying some bricks next time.
"How long have these huts been there?" asked Ron.
"I don't know, but it's been there for at least a few years. You can tell by the roofs."
On the roof of the thatched house are winding electric wires, which are the cable TV lines of Sun TV.
Aggie took Ron to the other side of the open space, where there was a wall separating the construction site for the building for railway officials.
A new road would soon be opened where they stood, connecting to the future residences of the officials.
Ajie said that if that were the case, the people from the New Federation would definitely not leave.
As soon as the road is opened, they will send people to set up stalls. Even if the vendors are driven away, they can come back again and again, and the rent for the stalls will go into the pocket of the new federation.
Water is not a problem for these huts, as there is a faucet behind the factory separated by a wall, but electricity is a little troublesome.
If residents pull wires privately, the power grid company will simply think they are railway bureau employees. If legal residents here steal electricity, it will be very ugly if a disturbance arises.
So the illegal residents used kerosene lamps, and the new federation simply ensured their right to live there.
"They have the final say in this area, and no one dares to bully these residents. In the future, when the new federation decides to demolish the huts and transform them into permanent buildings, they will pay 5,000 rupees to each of the current residents and ask them to move out," said Aij.
They returned along the dark alley and vaguely saw someone passing by, perhaps the New Federation's spies.
Ajay said he is lobbying the Shiv Sena to immediately convert the huts into brick houses.
From now on, illegal structures will become legal buildings, temporary residences will become permanent residences, and no one will say anything more.
Even if it fails, New Union can still sell the land and make a net profit of twenty lacs.
"The council has demolished it several times, but each time they've rebuilt it. They've even threatened the councillor."
"What do you mean?" Ron raised his eyebrows.
Aijie told him that the New Federation went directly to the home of the congressman in charge and warned his daughter: Tell your father to stop immediately, otherwise don't blame me for being rude.
"How rude?" asked the congressman's daughter, and asked them to wait in the reception room.
Those people told her that the Jogeshwari polling station was his territory and all the votes went to the Shiv Sena's ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party.
He would have his men riot and shut down polling stations. His men would spend months in jail and come out as brave men, but the congressman who was running for president...
The New Federation asked his daughter: Do you know how many votes your father will lose during the four hours when the polling station is closed?
There was a long silence between the two sides. Finally, the congressman's daughter led them inside.
"From now on, whether the houses are demolished or not, whether you are elected or not, depends on your choice." This is the warning from the New Federation to the parliamentarians.
Since then, the council members no longer dared to demolish illegal buildings, and the matter was finally brought to the attention of the "demolition king" Kellner.
"You know, they don't even give Kellner face."
"Okay, I knew it wasn't that simple." Ron sighed.
"The New Federation's illegal buildings aren't limited to this one. They also have several hotels on busy streets."
"Kellner is taking action?"
"Yes, but it didn't go very smoothly."
Kellner and Edge are very similar. They are both unyielding and don't care about the so-called gang threats at all.
The day before a hotel was to be demolished, police used bomb-sniffing dogs to search the entire building for explosives.
On the day of demolition, Kellner arrived at the scene with 400 officers and soldiers, including border security forces, and smashed the New Federation Hotel with a three-ton drop hammer crusher.
In just over half a year, he demolished a total of four illegal buildings under the name of the New Federation.
Colleagues in the demolition office, facing constant threats from the New Union, begged Kernamo to continue his path. The contractor who provided him with the demolition equipment also terminated the contract prematurely out of fear.
However, he did not give in. He became more and more courageous after each setback. Otherwise, he would not have been given the title of "King of Demolition of Illegal Buildings".
Just half a month ago, Kellner parked his car in front of the office building when gunshots suddenly rang out.
Two shots struck a passerby, and the third pierced Kellner's calf.
"This matter is very serious. I have received orders from above," said Aijie.
"What are your plans?"
"I will call in the state armed police, and I don't mind having another large-scale encounter in Mumbai." Ajie said coldly.
"I'll make a phone call later. No matter what the result is, I won't interfere with your actions."
"Okay." Aijie nodded.
I don’t know if it’s the influence of economic globalization, but the materialistic style of the city of Mumbai is becoming more and more obvious.
Money is talked about everywhere, and everyone wants to make money. Those dormant gray industries began to expand rapidly.
Officials, gangsters, cunning businessmen, and even ordinary people have all joined in.
Values are distorted and the moral bottom line is constantly challenged, so it is no surprise that anything happens.
Ron was just curious why the New Federation, which had a CD business, was so obsessed with these illegal buildings.
Take the hut next to the railway for example, at best it can make two to three million rupees.
If I sell this amount of film, I can make it back quickly, and it won’t be a problem to surpass it easily.
Why bother hanging here? Not only does it cost money to rebuild every time it is demolished, but we also have to send people to watch over it.
There's no downtown area next to the railway, so there's no need for that.
He hadn't contacted Johnny for a long time, and he didn't know how the other party controlled his troops.
(End of this chapter)
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