‘Architect is key conspirator in Lahoria case’

Garg was the common architect of all five accused builders—Suresh Bijlani, Bhupesh Gupta, S P Agarwal, Sumit Bacchewar and Vijay Gagra—who had crossed swords with Lahoria over alleged illegalities in various projects in Navi Mumbai. While Bacchewar and Gupta have been arrested, the others are not traceable. “Garg feared his licence would be cancelled as Lahoria had filed a complaint against him with the Council of Architecture, a government body,’’ the officer said. The police are also looking for Bijlani’s younger brother Mahesh Bijlani. Two hours after Lahoria’s murder on February 16, former encounter specialist and an accused in the case, Emmanual Amolik, had met Mahesh Bijlani at Nerul, sources said. Amolik then asked Mahesh to convey to Suresh Bijlani that Lahoria has been killed, the police said. On February 16, Lahoria was shot dead outside his office in Sector 28 of Vashi in Navi Mumbai. So far, the police have arrested eight persons, including shooters Venkatesh Shettiar, Wajid Qureshi, developer Sumit Bacchewar and former encounter specialist Emmanuel Amolik. The Maharashtra home department has transferred the case from Navi Mumbai police to the city crime branch following allegations of a biased investigation . Bijlani's anticipatory bail plea rejectedThe Supreme Court on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail application of absconding builder Suresh Bijlani in the Lahoria murder case.Last month, Bijlani's lawyers had withdrawn his bail application, fearing the court would reject it. "Bijlani's lawyer on Monday filed two separate petitions-one to review the earlier anticipatory bail application and a fresh one,'' said an officer. Earlier, the Thane sessions court and Bombay high court had rejected the bail applications of Bijlani and Garg. Bijlani is likely to surrender now, sources said.