The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Buyers have just 1 question: What about our money?
HOME BUYERS, who had filed complaints against Unitech for non-delivery of their houses booked back in 2011, aired mixed feelings on Saturday after the company’s managing director, Sanjay Chandra, and his brother, Ajay Chandra, were arrested and sent to police custody till April 3. While most backed the police action, many said their major concern was recovering their money.
Acting on their complaints filed in 2015, police are charging the Chandra brothers with fraud and criminal conspiracy.
Amit Kumar (40), who works at the Royal Bank of Scotland, said he wants the company and its top brass punished for “cheating”. “This was my dream house, now that dream is shattered,” said Amit, who took a loan of Rs 1.3 crore for the luxury suite he had booked.
“I have already repaid Rs 64 lakh. I don’t want others to go through a similar experience. The government must do something to stop such incidents of fraud,” he added.
Delhi-based entrepreneur Vivek Tyagi (43) said he wants to recover his money and get out of the mess. He paid Unitech Rs 48 lakh for a flat. “I don’t mind either solution — a flat or getting my money back. But knowing that they haven’t laid a single brick on the project site, I doubt the option of getting a flat is on the table anymore.”
Harjinder, a retired government employee in her 60s, who has difficulty in walking, said she is tired of making countless trips to the Unitech office to check the status of her house. “The officials did not entertain us, they would not give us any answers. I want my money back; I am tired of all this,” she said.
P D Singh, a retired private sector employee, said that getting the money back is his priority. “We want our money. But knowing the Chandras and their track record of giving failed cheques to those who wanted a settlement earlier, we want to see them penalised. I don’t trust the Chandras to return the money,” said Singh.
Dr Vikas Singh, a Delhi-based medical practitioner, who had paid Rs 32 lakh to Unitech (the first installment for a Rs 84 lakh house) said, “From what we saw in 2011, the plot is in worse shape now. At that time it was flat, clear land. Now it is all jungle jhaad, covered in wild foliage.”
Shekhar Bothra, another home buyer who is not a complainant in the case, said, “I was happy to hear that the Chandras have been arrested, but I am more keen on getting my money back. The government has to realise that not everyone has the luxury of treating a house as an investment that could sink. We put our entire life’s savings into buying a house.”