Three builders, a former CPI(M) panchayat president, an architect and two government officials have been charge-sheeted in the Maradu illegal apartment construction cases in Kerala.

Former Maradu panchayat president and CPI(M) leader K. A. Devassy, former Maradu panchayat secretary M. Muhammad Ashraf, former junior superintendent P. E. Joseph and former upper division clerk R. Jayaram Naik were arraigned as the accused in all three cases booked by the Crime Branch. Mr. Devassy had served as the chairperson of the Maradu panchayat between 2005 and 2010.

Paul Raj Joseph, managing director of Alfa Serene, its architect K. C. George, Sani Francis, managing director of H2O Holy faith Builders and Developers, and Sandeep Mehtha of Jain Coral Cove and his associate C. Naveen, were the other accused who were charge-sheeted by Tomy Sebastian, the Deputy Superintendent of Crime Branch Central Unit 2, before the Vigilance court, Muvattupuzha, on Thursday. P. E. Joseph, the third accused in the case, had expired earlier.

The chargesheets were filed regarding the illegal construction of twin apartment complexes of Alfa Serene and one each housing complexes of H2O Holy Faith and Jain Coral Cove that were pulled down in January 2020 following a Supreme Court order. The top court had found that the apartments, which came up on the banks of Vembanad Lake in Maradu, Kochi, were constructed in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone rules and other laws.

The Crime Branch has invoked the penal provisions of cheating, criminal conspiracy, destruction and concealment of evidence against the builders and the civic head. The three former government officials also face the additional charges of criminal misconduct by a public servant for “dishonestly or fraudulently misappropriating/converting entrusted property or allowing others to do so” and “for abusing their official position to illicitly obtain valuable things or pecuniary advantages for themselves or others, without any public interest.”

The cases were booked on complaints from the owners of the razed apartments, who, according to the Crime Branch, were cheated by the builders following a series of conspiracies hatched with the political leadership of the civic body, the government officials and the architect.

The investigation agency has alleged that the builders illegally obtained the building permits for the apartments after concealing the fact that the construction was carried out in the No Development Zone. The builders and officials connived with each other to flout provisions of the Kerala Municipal Building Rules and failed to obtain the statutory clearances from agencies like the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority and the Defence Forces before initiating the construction. The building permits for all the apartment complexes were illegally obtained in the process, according to the Crime Branch.

The demolition of the apartment complexes had attracted nationwide attention and raised serious questions about encroachment on the banks of water bodies and their illegal reclamation.