‘Landowner’ claims officials quietly changed property status

A man, who claims to be the original owner of the land on which fire-ravaged ‘Birch by Romeo Lane’ stood, has alleged that a portion of his property was converted from a salt pan to a settlement zone without his knowledge, to benefit the club.Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar said he had signed a sale agreement with Surinder Kumar Khosla in 2004, but withdrew it within six months after failing to receive payment. Despite this, Khosla allegedly went on to occupy the land and set up a nightclub, later taken over by Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra.A devastating blaze swept through the club around midnight on December 6, killing 25 people, most of them staff and a few tourists.Amonkar, who has been locked in a legal battle with Khosla for 21 years to reclaim the property, said he discovered the zoning change only on Thursday while preparing documents to approach the high court following the fire.“The government quietly changed the zoning of my land without informing me. How can a salt pan be converted into a settlement zone?” he asked, alleging that no notice was issued despite the ongoing litigation.A senior official from Goa’s Town and Country Planning department said an inquiry is in progress and declined to comment on Amonkar’s claims.



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