Several families who had leased houses on the streets after bank seizes building

BENGALURU: Six families are in dire straits after losing both their houses and money due to the owner’s carelessness. If they hadn’t been careful, they would have been in a difficult situation.

The incident occurred at Ajjappa Block in RT Nagar, Bengaluru. The building’s owner, Syed Aijaz Ahmed, had taken a loan of over Rs 2 crore from Malleswaram Cooperative Bank three years ago but hasn’t repaid it. As a result, the bank sealed the entire building recently.

Seven families who were living in the building had taken the houses on leases by paying Rs Rs 20 lakh each, unaware that the owner had taken a loan on the building. The bank had issued a notice a few days ago, but the owner didn’t inform the tenants. The bank authorities, along with the police, arrived and vacated the building, locking and sealing it.

As the houses were being seled, the panicked residents called the owner, but he were not reachable. The exhausted residents have filed a case at the RT Nagar police station. Since they have not got back their lease amounts, they were not even able to find another house and were wondering where to take their children and elderly family members.

A resident Mohammed Azmal Pasha, alleged that the owner of the building, Syed Ajaz Ahmed had collected Rs 20 lakh as lease amount from the eight familes. The owner took a loan on the building and was issued notice, but the innocent families were unaware of the bank notice. “He cheated everyone. Bank officials came and warned us to wrap up our belongings within no time. Now we have no place to shift our belongings to. He took a loan of Rs 2.22 crore from the bank, mortgaging the building and is now not available on phone. We really have no idea what we will do. We cannot protest as the bank officiasl came with the police”.

Another woman, Afsari, said, “We have been staying here for seven years. We were engaged in routine work in the morning without any idea about the fraud. All of a sudden, bank officials came with police protection, knocked on the door, and told us to go out with our belongings. Now everything is coming to light. There were also water issues, but the owner kept giving us assurance of resolving it without coming here himself. Police have sealed the building and locked it from outside”.