Seeking God's intervention: Pune man to stage hunger strike outside Sachin Tendulkar's bungalow

A Pune-based man seeking justice in a land grab case has announced his intention to go on an indefinite hunger strike outside Sachin Tendulkar’s bungalow in Mumbai on 18 May. Tendulkar was the brand ambassador of a real estate company that has been accused by the man of cheating him. According to a report on Mid-Day, laboratory technician Sandeep Kurhade alleged that well-known real estate firm Amit Enterprises paid him just Rs 20 lakh for an ancestral piece of land in Ambegaon, Budruk near Pune, the value of which is reportedly ten times as much. [caption id=“attachment_2729952” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sachin Tendulkar was the brand ambassador of Amit Enterprises from 2010 to 2014. PTI[/caption] Kurhade further alleged that his uncle, Shivaji Pinjan, was also involved in depriving him of what was rightfully his, pocketing Rs 1.5 crore from the Pate family, who own Amit Enterprises. In a letter to the additional commissioner of police (western region), as well as the Bandra police station, Kurhade has stated that he and his family plan to camp outside Tendulkar’s residence at Perry Cross Road in Bandra, hoping that the ‘Master Blaster’ would come to their aid. Tendulkar had signed a deal worth Rs 9 crore with the firm back in 2010, which included two villas worth Rs 2.5 crore. “Irrespective of whether he helps us or not, I will be his fan forever,” Kurhade was quoted as saying in the Mid-Day report. The firm however, trashed Kurhade’s allegations, stating that the accuser’s mother had signed a registered deed in the presence of her brother, transferring all her rights to the land to her brother — Shivaji Pinjan. “When Shivaji produced this deed to us, we took extra precautions and got a certified copy of the same from the registration department. “And then we bought the said land from Shivaji for Rs 1.50 crore. On Shivaji’s request, we paid Rs 20 lakh to Ranjana,” Amit Duvekar, legal consultant of Amit Enterprises, said further in the report. Rohan Pate, whose family runs the firm, alleged that Kurhade was trying to extort money from them, and that they were resorting to publicity stunts by dragging the batting legend, who is no longer associated with the firm, into the matter. “He was our brand ambassador from 2010-2014. By dragging Sachin’s name into this, the Kurhade family is merely resorting to publicity stunts to pressure us,” said Pate.