Man held for duping JNU, IIT-Delhi professors of ₹11 crore

The former JNU employee cheated 13 professors on the pretext of providing them with affordable housing

A former employee of Jawaharlal Nehru University has been arrested for duping 13 professors at JNU and Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D) of over ₹11 crore on the pretext of providing them with affordable housing, police officers aware of the matter said on Wednesday.

Gaikwad was arrested on December 14 from Delhi, deputy commissioner of police (economic offences wing) Surendra Choudhary said. (HT File)

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Police identified the suspect as PD Gaikwad, a resident of Gurugram, and said he defrauded his victims by claiming that the affordable housing he would provide them was part of a purported land pooling policy by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).

Gaikwad was arrested on December 14 from Delhi, deputy commissioner of police (economic offences wing) Surendra Choudhary said.

Giving details of the case, officers said that the victims approached police in late 2022 and after verifying the contents of their complaint, a first information report (FIR) was registered in January this year.

“It was revealed that he received over ₹11 crore in the account of the society from its members, however, the funds were either siphoned off through cash withdrawal or transferred to other accounts,” the DCP said.

JNU vice-chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit said, “Gaikwad had retired a few years ago, so I do not know him personally. However, the Delhi police is looking into it and we support the action that they have taken as JNU does not stand for such unscrupulous activities.”

In their complaint, the victims alleged that Gaikwad, who worked as a scientific officer at the School of Environmental Sciences, JNU, in 2015 formed the Noble Socio-Scientific Welfare Organization (NSSWO), claiming to provide affordable housing. “He made a presentation and enticed them to become members. In his capacity as the president of the organisation, Gaikwad provided them details of a proposed housing project under DDA land pooling policy for which he said that NSSWO was in the process of procuring land,” Chowdhary said.

According to the complaint, Gaikwad on November 1, 2015 took the victims to show them a piece of land in Dwarka. However, he did not show any document supporting the purchase of the land, police said.

For the next four years, there was no movement in the deal but he continued to take the instalments for the said project, police said. However, in 2019, Gaikwad informed the complainants that he was going to launch a different society, “Siddhartha Officers Housing and Social Welfare Society”, through the Delhi government, and NSSWO members could register for the new society by visiting his office in JNU.

Chowdhary said e-mails sent by Gaikwad also contained elements of DDA’s land pooling policy.

However, the complainants realised that they were being duped and approached police, the officer said.

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When investigation was taken up in January, Delhi Police reached out to DDA, but the authority said it has not issued any licence or granted any approval to any housing project under its land pooling policy in Dwarka.

Investigators also reached out to Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), Delhi, which also confirmed that the alleged society not registered itself with the body.

Gaikwad was then arrested on December 14.