Pune businessman accuses brother of restraining him from entering ancestral property

Pune, Sep 24 (PTI) Police have registered an FIR after Bharat Manoharlal Pittie, member of a prominent business family from the city, lodged a complaint accusing his brother and other relatives of illegally stopping him from entering ancestral property worth crores of rupees.

Pittie (57), who runs a textile unit manufacturing woollen garments in Bhosari area, belongs to the family that founded Raja Bahadur Poona Mills in 1891.

The mill, located near Pune railway station, went defunct in the mid-90s. Most of the mill land now houses swanky hotels, restaurants, an art gallery and open spaces for events.

Bharat Pittie recently lodged a complaint against his brother Rajiv Pittie and other family members over an ancestral bungalow spread over 40,000 sqft on the upscale Boat Club Road and another property in Kharadi measuring over 5,000 sqft, said a police official.

Bharat, who lives in the UK, was adopted by his uncle Manoharlal Pittie in 1975, but returned to live with his parents within six months at the Boat Club Road property.

After he moved to the UK in 2012, his parents Girdharilal Pittie and Veena Pittie executed a will dividing both properties equally between him and Rajiv, the complaint said.

After Girdharilal's death in 2019, Veena cancelled the earlier will and executed a new one, again dividing the properties equally. In December 2023, Veena cancelled that will as well and executed another, before her death in June 2024, which also equally divided the properties.

According to the FIR, the three-storey bungalow was shared by family members. Rajiv's son Pranav and his wife lived on the ground floor, Bharat and his mother on the first, and Rajiv and his wife on the third.

But when he returned to Pune after his mother's death, he was denied entry into the bungalow, Bharat alleged in the complaint.

"In October 2024, when I tried to enter the bungalow, the watchman stopped me at the gate, saying Rajiv and his family had instructed him not to allow me inside, and then shut the gate," he claimed.

Around the same time, he came across an advertisement for the sale of the Kharadi property. "I then issued a public notice stating that the property cannot be sold without my consent," the complaint stated.

Speaking to PTI, Bharat Pittie said, "There is a will that clearly divides the properties equally between my brother and me....After my mother's death in May 2024, I locked the floor where I lived with her, and went to the UK. They broke the locks, entered, and took possession of my floor. All my belongings are still inside." Dattatray Waghmare, assistant police inspector with the Economic Offences Wing, Pune Police, said, "An FIR was registered against Rajiv Pittie and four other family members under section 126 (2) (wrongful restraint) and 3 (5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita in July. We have recorded the statements of Rajiv Pittie and other family members as well as a few witnesses." When contacted by PTI, Rajiv Pittie initially said he would call back, but subsequent calls and a text message remained unanswered. PTI SPK KRK