Builder evades arrest, court wants cops to explain

CHENGALPATTU: The Chengalpattu consumer court has issued a notice to Abhiramapuram police personnel to apprehend a private builder who is reportedly missing after taking money from a man by promising to build a house and refusing to honour the commitment even after several years.

The complainant Sivasubramaniam, a resident of Nizam Colony in Pudukkottai had approached a private builder based in Chennai in 2018 and given him Rs 3.75 lakh to build a house. However, when the builder refused to do so and failed to refund the cash, Sivasubramaniam filed a case against him in the Chengalpattu Consumer court. The very next year, the court directed the builder to refund the cash to the complainant with an added interest of 9 per cent. However, when he did not follow the court order, the complainant approached the court again in 2021 for which the court issued a non-bailable warrant against the builder.

Even after several months had passed and there was no action against the warrant, the court issued a notice to the Abhiramapuram police to give an explanation in connection with it. However, within a few days of the order, the builder paid the cash in court with a DD, but when the court asked about the warrant, the police personnel shocked the members of the court by saying the builder was missing from his home and they were unable to trace him. Similarly, the court has issued notices to seven police stations, including Kunrathur, Chittlapakkam etc to appear in court and give explanations for not executing court orders in various pending cases.