Yesteryear actor and BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha found himself in a spot of bother on Tuesday, as the anti-encroachment department officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) pulled down some allegedly unauthorised portions in his eight-storied bungalow “Ramayan” at Juhu in north-west Mumbai.
Sinha was himself rendered “khamosh” (silent) as the BMC officials arrived at his bungalow and carried out demolition of certain illegal portions. “The actor, who was present at his bungalow, co-operated with us fully in the demolition operation,” a senior BMC official said. The structures which came under the BMC’s hammer included a toilet, office and a small pantry constructed on the terrace of the bungalow. The BMC officials told the actor to shift the puja room, which is also “illegal” to some other place. “The demolitions will continue tomorrow. Once the puja room is shifted to some other place, we will pull down that structure also,” a civic official said.
On his part, the actor told the BMC officials that he had carried out “minor modifications”, a claim that the civic officials did not accept.
On December 6, the BMC had earlier served notice on Sinha nder the Maharashtra Region & Town Planning Act (MRTP) for alleged illegal constructions. The actor reportedly ignored the notice had claimed he was awaiting permission for additional construction rights for the same. The BMC issued one more notice to the actor on Saturday last.
The notices served by the BMC on Sinha were on the basis of complaints received by it last year that had alleged the actor had used extra Floor Space Index (FSI) to make several illegal additions to his bungalow and converted it into a building in 2012.
Sinha is not the first Bollywood personality to have been acted against by the BMC for an alleged illegal construction. Earlier, the BMC had pulled down illegal structures constructed by several other Bollywood personalities, including Shah Rukh Khan and Kapil Sharma. In October last year, the BMC had served notices on some others like Amitabh Bachchan and Rajkumar Hirani for alleged violations at their Goregaon bungalows.