Bodies turn up in Kurla’s ‘ghost town’
Most of the 125 buildings of Premier Colony lie vacant, after promoters of HDIL became embroiled in the PMC Bank scam
MUMBAI: Less than four kilometres from shiny Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) and approximately 10 kilometers from Dharavi, which is poised for a facelift, is teeming Kurla, where unknown to citizens caught up in the whirl of life, is a sprawling complex of empty buildings where bodies are turning up.
Located on the west side of the railway track, behind the Kurla car shed near Vidyavihar railway station, this stretch where 125 buildings stand – once a space for jolly Tiktokers and cricket enthusiasts -- has lately become a place of dread for both police and residents.
This island – a ghost town – is locked from three sides by dense slum pockets and lower middle class residential localities. Those who reside in a few of the 125 buildings in Premier Colony, Kurla West, do not step out after sundown.
The crime chart
A decomposed body of a young woman was found on the third floor of one of the buildings on November 14. The victim – in the mid-20s to early-30s was spotted by a civic worker, who was on a pest control drive.
Twenty days since the discovery, the body remains unidentified, her death a mystery, which has led the Vinoba Bhave Nagar police to register an accidental death report. The local unit of the crime branch is conducting a parallel probe into the death.
This, however, is only the latest in a string of incidents that has had the residents living in fear for over a year.
Two months ago, the body of a 23-year-old man was found in the basement of an under construction hospital building in the same area. Police are yet to make any headway in the case.
The most gruesome case, however, was reported a year ago. An 18-year-old woman was raped and killed on the terrace of SRA building number 16 by two persons -- Rehan and Faisal Ansari -- on November 23, 2021. The accused had murdered the victim, a Govandi resident, by assaulting her with a knife and hammer after raping her. Deputy Commissioner of Police Pranay Ashok, in-charge of the Zone at the time, termed it a premeditated attack. “The accused first slit her throat and then smashed her skull with a hammer. After this, they proceeded to stab her around 26 times in her chest and abdomen,” said Ashok.
Three youths who went to the abandoned building to record Tiktok videos found the body.
Investigation into the case revealed the victim was pressuring Rehan for marriage, and he planned and executed the murder, allegedly along with his childhood friend, Faisal.
The neighbourhood
Erstwhile automobile manufacturer, Premier Limited, started construction on this piece of land in 2004. The area now has around 30 buildings, each with four wings. Some are 11-storeyed, others 13-storeyed. While possession of flats were given only in three buildings from 2012 onwards, 40 per cent flats still remain vacant.
There are no boundary walls in the area and only five to six security guards are posted here. On most days, lanes and by-lanes across the complex wear a deserted look, with debris and excavators from the ongoing construction work still lying around.
Cops said, the place is a
“haven for romantic trysts and anti-social elements flock here after dark to consume drugs and alcohol”.
Thirty two-year-old real estate dealer Kanhaiyalal Mali, moved into SRA building number 10 along with his family in 2015. “The condition is a little better. Back then, the buildings had no lights. We were apprehensive about stepping out even in the day. Hardly anyone lived here,” Mali said.
A woman in her mid-40s, residing in the same building, said people do not step out of their houses after 7 pm, as “anyone walking down the streets after this time is fair game for robbers waiting to snatch cell phones or other valuables”. Gufran Gafoor Mulla, a 29-year-old social influencer, once shot many Tiktok videos at abandoned buildings “as there was no disturbance and offered a good backdrop from the terrace for visuals”. Mulla, who resides in nearby Premier Residency, said, “Going there now is risky.”
Like Tik-tokers, groups that came to play cricket have also stopped frequenting the hood. .
Rahul Paswan, 25, a marketing executive with a private bank, recalled playing cricket here three times a week. “A year ago, we heard about a woman’s body being found in a building but thought that it was a one-off incident. Since then, incidents of crime have risen and it is no place for us to play cricket here anymore.”
Qayyum Sheikh, a site supervisor employed by the Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), which constructed the SRA buildings, said that streetlights have now been installed in around 50 per cent of the area. “We discourage outsiders from coming here. We try to keep a strict watch and stop as many outsiders as we can,” said Sheikh.