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Ludhiana: Japanese firm officials face FIR over allegations of cheating and fraud
The FIR was registered on the complaint of Jagatjit Singh, director of Jagatsukh Industries Private Limited, an agricultural equipment manufacturer based in Alamgir, Ludhiana
Dehlon police have registered an FIR against five officials of the Japanese agricultural equipment manufacturer fir and its parent company following allegations by a Ludhiana-based manufacturer that they fraudulently obtained proprietary machine designs, attempted to patent them in India and evaded customs duty through illegal imports.
The FIR was registered on the complaint of Jagatjit Singh, director of Jagatsukh Industries Private Limited, an agricultural equipment manufacturer based in Alamgir, Ludhiana.
Police have booked the company’s managing director Munenori Ohta, deputy director Takayuki Saito, managers Harmeet Singh and Ritwique Das, and Toshio Kondo under Sections 420 (cheating) and 379 (theft) of the IPC, along with Sections 66 and 66-C of the Information Technology Act.
According to the complaint, the company approached Jagatsukh Industries in 2022 for a manufacturing partnership in India, assuring the company that it would not establish a competing manufacturing unit. Relying on these assurances, Jagatsukh Industries allegedly invested in machinery and infrastructure and shared confidential technical drawings, machine designs, manufacturing processes, vendor details and costing data.
The firm is located in Gurugram, Haryana.
The two companies entered into a toll manufacturing agreement on May 24, 2023. However, the complainant alleged that the company incorporated its Indian subsidiary a month later and terminated the agreement in January this year without prior notice.
Singh alleged that company representatives copied confidential technical data during visits to his factory and later used it to seek patents in
India for multiple machine components without his knowledge or consent, causing wrongful financial loss to his company.
The complaint further alleged that the company imported machine parts from Japan under ‘free of cost’ invoices meant for testing, but instead used them in machines sold in India, thereby evading customs duty. Singh claimed the company later issued a written apology after the matter was raised.
Police said the FIR was registered after an inquiry conducted by the deputy commissioner of police (investigation), during which documents and statements were examined.
Investigating officer inspector Vijay Kumar said further investigation is underway.
This is the second FIR registered against the company on Singh’s complaint within a month.
On June 11, Dehlon police had booked company officials over allegations that four agricultural machines worth more than ₹61.6 lakh, provided for demonstration purposes, were not returned despite repeated assurances.
