Bharti Vidyapeeth police have booked a builder and his associates on the charges of threatening a shop owner to get him to vacate his property at Ambegaon-Dattanagar Road.

The builder did not execute the sale deed of the commercial property despite being paid the entire amount, and is now eyeing it because its cost has gone up three times, said the police.

The builder, Vinay Patil, and two others have been booked under sections 392 (robbery), 448 (trespassing), 427 (mischief causing damage) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. Shop owner Ankush Ghisare (39) from Purandar has lodged the FIR against Patil.

According to Ghisare, he had purchased the property of 366 sq ft at the Venkatesh Blossom project in Ambegaon in 2008. Ghisare claims to have paid the entire amount for the realty in cash and cheque to Patil. And though he was given possession of the property, Patil never executed its sale deed.

Ghisare was constantly following up on the deed issue. But Patil told him that since there were three partners in his firm, he wouldn’t be able to execute the sale deed document on his own.

Some three months back, Patil handed over the property’s possession to Ghisare. On March 6, Ghisare inaugurated the shop and started a small business out of it. But when he went to his native place on March 19, Patil and his men entered the shop, threatened the workers there and forcibly gained possession of the shop.

Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) Rajaram Kshirsagar from Bharti Vidyapeeth police station said, “Ghisare had purchased the shop for Rs 29 lakh in 2008 and its present valuation is more than Rs 80 lakh. He claims to have paid Patil Rs 3.75 lakh through cheque, which is a crucial evidence of the transaction between the two. The rest of the amount was paid by Ghisare in cash.”

“Prima facie Patil and his men have committed an offence. Patil was summoned a couple of times for questioning but he hasn’t turned up. An FIR has been lodged and we will take the necessary action,” PSI Kshirsagar added.

Patil was not available for comment and his staff refused to share his contact numbers with this correspondent.