An offence has been registered against six persons for 'stealing' water worth Rs 73.18 crore from two illegal wells at Kalbadevi in south Mumbai, the police said on Wednesday.
Sureshkumar Dhoka lodged a complaint with Azad Maidan police about water being stolen from wells, which have been dug inside the compound of Pandya Mansion without necessary permits, an official said.
"Owner of the mansion Tripuraprasad Pandya was drawing water illegally and selling it through water tanker operators," he said, adding that Pandya had even obtained illegal electricity metres to draw water through pumps.
Readings of these illegal metres revealed that between 2006 and 2017, the accused had allegedly stolen lakhs of litres of water worth Rs 73.18 crore, he said.
The complainant has collected all the information related to these wells through Right to Information Act, the official said.
An offence under sections 379 (theft) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code was registered against Tripuraprasad Pandya, his son Prakash Tripuraprasad Pandya, his relative Manoj Pandya and tanker operators Arun Mishra, Shrawan Mishra, Dhiraj Mishra and other concerned persons at Azad Maidan police station, he said.
Investigations into the matter are underway, the official added.