Diamantaire Nirav Modi's bungalow, Roopanya, at Kihim in Raigad district of Maharashtra, was demolished through controlled blasting at 11.15 a.m. on Friday. At least 110 holes were drilled into the pillars using excavators, and close to 30 kg explosives were fixed inside the holes over the last two days.
"The technical experts were working on a war footing to make the holes and fix the explosives. We finished by 6 a.m. on Friday after which we took some rest and the structure was demolished at 11.15 a.m.," said Bharat Shitole, Additional Collector, Raigad district.
The sprawling bungalow on Kihim beach, over 90 km from Mumbai, was estimated to be worth ₹ 100 crore. It was declared illegal along with 58 other structures for violating the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ).
On January 25 , district officials started the demolition work using bulldozers, but they found it was a time-consuming work due to the RCC construction. On January 27, structural engineers from Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University conducted a survey and they suggested that the demolition be carried out through controlled blasting.
Mr. Modi’s bungalow was attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) following his involvement in the ₹13,000-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case. It was handed over to the Collector’s office on January 24, after the ED seized two trucks full of valuables from the building.
In 2011, Mr. Modi sought to legalise the structure by providing some documents before then district collector. In 2018, Raigad Collector Vijay Suryawanshi filed an affidavit claiming that they needed to review the order, and on December 4, 2018, the bungalow was declared unauthorised and Mr. Suryawanshi issued a notice to demolish the bungalow.
