E-Paper
Cheating accused who fled from police custody in Panchkula nabbed from Kolkata
The accused has been identified as Praveen Kumar, who was carrying a reward of ₹25,000, announced by the Saharanpur police; he was arrested from Kolkata by a team of the Panchkula police
Almost a month after escaping from police custody, a Yamunanagar native, who is accused of cheating a Chandigarh resident by selling him an attached plot, has landed back in police net.
The accused has been identified as Praveen Kumar, who was carrying a reward of ₹25,000, announced by the Saharanpur police. He was arrested from Kolkata by a team of the Panchkula police.
The accused was arrested in connection with a cheating case registered at the Sector 7 police station on September 30, 2021.
The complainant, Sandeep Rana, a resident of Sector 37, Chandigarh, had told the police that he had known one Babita, who ran a salon in Sector 42, Chandigarh, for several years. She had introduced him to Vikram Rishi and his partner Praveen Kumar, both from Yamunanagar.
During a meeting, Vikram and Praveen informed Rana that Dharamveer and Omveer, both residents of Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh (UP), possessed 72 bighas of land in Sarsawa, UP, on Haryana border, that they intended to sell. The suspects lured Rana into becoming a partner in the land purchase. The plan was to subsequently sell the land at a higher price, ensuring an equal distribution of profits among all four parties involved.
The complainant agreed to the proposal and facilitated the purchase of the 72 bighas for ₹7 crore. An agreement was drafted and Rana made an initial payment of ₹10 lakh. However, Vikram and Praveen soon approached Rana, claiming financial difficulties in repaying the ₹1-crore bank loan associated with the land.
Under a conspiracy, they requested an additional payment of ₹1.4 crore, promising to obtain the no-objection certificate (NOC) from the bank and complete the land registration.
Trusting them, Rana handed over the requested amount to Dharamveer and Omveer. However, after a considerable period of time, the suspects failed to provide any updates on the land registration or fulfil their promises. All attempts to contact them proved futile.
Meanwhile, Rana found the land in Mauja village, Chhatrasali, Sarsawa, had been attached since July 22, 2019, as per the orders of the sub-district officer. Consequently, the land could not have been legally sold.
When Rana confronted the suspects, they not only avoided his calls but also began issuing threats. Police on Rana’s complaint had registered a case under Sections 406, 420 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Sector 7 police station on September 30, 2021.
Police on June 15 had brought Praveen on production warrants from Saharanpur jail, where he was lodged in connection with another cheating case and formally arrested him.
When police took him to Dehradun as part of investigation, he escaped from custody, following which another case was registered under Sections 223 and 224 of the IPC at the Patel Nagar police station in Dehradun on June 17.
After his escape, Panchkula police constituted as special investigation team (SIT) that re-arrested Praveen from Kolkata on June 28, and he was brought to Panchkula on transit remand. He was produced before a court on July 13 from where he was sent to one-day police custody. The accused was on Saturday produced before court again and sent to judicial custody.
