10 squatters on everest

An unoccupied floor in a Tardeo building turned into a temporary residence for a group of 10 trespassers who broke and entered, in spite of security guards

The Tardeo Police have arrested two men from Everest building in Tardeo on Friday for trespassing. The accused were part of a group of 10 people who had broken into the first floor of the building at night. The first floor of Everest is unoccupied, and used by residents for recreational activities. On July 7, nearly 10 persons broke into the floor at 9.30 pm. The security guards, who surprisingly did not see the group enter the building, heard noise coming from the first floor and went upstairs to investigate.


The first floor of Everest Building in Tardeo that the trespassers broke
into. They ransacked the rooms on the floor. Pic/ Sayed Sameer Abedi

To their surprise, they found 10 people breaking open the locked doors on the floor and ransacking the meter and storage rooms. "I heard some noises from the first floor. I immediately rushed to check, and I found around 10 people breaking the locks on the doors and ransacking rooms. I called three other security guards, but we could not do anything because the trespassers outnumbered us," said a security guard, who did not wish to be identified.

The guards then called the treasurer of the society, Ashok Mehta, while another resident who had been alerted to the incident, dialled the Tardeo police station. "When I arrived, I saw four people claiming that they own the first floor of the building. The guards told me that several of the trespassers had managed to escape. The police arrived and arrested two men," said Mehta.

Those duo arrested have been identified Simprin Dantas (32) from Sawantwadi and Dhanajay Bawaskar (27) from Parel. They have been booked under sections 452 and 34 of the IPC. The Girgaum Metropolitan Court remanded both the accused to judicial custody for 14 days. Police Sub Inspector Sambhaji Biranje said, "We have arrested two more people in the same case, further investigations are on." He however refused to divulge information about the others who have been apprehended.