EOW arrests Kamala Mills’ owner Ramesh Gowani in fraud case

According to the police, in 2013, Gowani approached the complainant Surjit Singh Arora, 65, to develop his land in Khar Danda, Santacruz. He took his land for re-development and promised to pay ₹20 crore to Arora, along with commercial properties and flats, amounting to a total of ₹67.50 crore

MUMBAI: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police on Tuesday arrested Ramesh Gowani, owner of the Kamala Mills, for allegedly cheating a Khar-based businessman of ₹67.50 crore.

Kamala Mill owner Ramesh Gowani was arrested in Dec 2017 after a fire broke out in a pub in Kamala Mills’. (Bhushan Koyande)

According to the police, in 2013, Gowani approached the complainant Surjit Singh Arora, 65, to develop his land in Khar Danda, Santacruz. He took his land for re-development and promised to pay ₹20 crore to Arora, along with commercial properties and flats, amounting to a total of ₹67.50 crore. Gowani, however, did not pay him anything nor give him the shops and flats.

“We have arrested Gowani in the cheating case,” confirmed a senior police officer of EOW. The case has been registered by the General Cheating unit of the EOW.

“Gowani told him that he would pay him ₹20 crore and give him some flats and commercial property for giving him his land for development. However, he sold the flats and commercial tenements and didn’t give anything to Arora. After this, he approached us, and we registered a case under sections 420 (cheating) and 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant, banker, merchant or agent) of the Indian Penal Code. We have applied the Indian Penal Code sections as the case is old,” said an EOW officer.

Gowani is the owner of Kamala Mills in Lower Parel which houses many corporate offices and restaurants. Gowani was earlier arrested in December 2017 for the fire at Kamala Mills, which killed 14 people. However, he was later discharged from the case by a court citing lack of enough evidence to charge them.