4 held in Rs 27-crore fraud granted bail

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 25

Four persons arrested in a major fraud case worth Rs 27 crore by the Moti Nagar police were released after they were served notices yesterday. The complainant has charged the police with conniving with the accused.

The complainant, Anil Ranguta, partner in Neelakanth Yarn, Industrial Area A, said if the police had released the accused in the fraud case by serving them notices, they should have been arrested in the other cases in which they were already declared proclaimed offenders. 

The accused are Vipan Kumar, director of KSM Spinning Mills, Mandiala, Khanna; Manju Mittal, Sarish Mittal and Lovelish Mittal.

The complainant said his firm dealt in yarn, fabric and cotton. The firm owned by the accused manufactures cotton and polyester yarn. When he started trading with the accused, they initially showed a very professional approach, but with the passage of time, they started defaulting on payments.

“When the due amount reached up to Rs 27 crore, the accused started making hollow promises with regard to paying the bills. Later, they agreed to make payment and gave us several cheques which bounced due to the non-functional accounts. The accounts were non-functional even at the time of issuing of these cheques,” said Anil.

Anil said a complaint of fraud was lodged with the Moti Nagar police station and a case under Section 420, 406, 506 and 120 B of the IPC was registered.

Yesterday the police arrested the accused but released them after serving them notices. ”We also gave proof to the police that the accused were POs in other cases and they could have been arrested in those cases, but to no avail,” he said.

Meanwhile, ADCP IV Ajinder Singh said the accused were released after notices were served on them as per the law. With regard to the PO orders, the ADCP said the complainant had not produced any orders. Had he shown us any order, the police would have acted and intimated the police station where they were wanted.

‘Accused declared POs in another case’

We also gave proof to the police that the accused were POs in other cases and they could have been arrested in those cases, but to no avail. Anil Ranguta, complainant