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Another FIR of fraud, criminal breach of trust against Ansal group and its authorities

Another case of fraud and criminal breach of trust was registered against North India’s real estate giant Ansal API Group at the PGI police station in Lucknow on

Published on: Nov 17, 2019, 22:06:36 IST
By , LUCKNOW
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Another case of fraud and criminal breach of trust was registered against North India’s real estate giant Ansal API Group at the PGI police station in Lucknow on Sunday.

HT Image
HT Image

In this latest FIR, one Deepti Kannuadia has accused Ansal API of accepting over 3 million through cheques for booking a 240 square metre plot in its Sushant Golf City project on Shaheed Path, Lucknow, but not giving the plot’s possession even after nearly eight years.

She accused the group’s chairman, Sushil Ansal, his son and vice chairman of the group, Pranav Ansal, and two other authorities -- Sushil Singh and Arun Mishra -- in the FIR.

Talking over phone, the complainant’s husband, Sachin Kannuadia, said they booked the plot on February 16, 2012 and paid an amount of over 1.6 million before the agreement was drawn by the group on March 22, 2012. “We have paid over 3 million but the group authorities failed to fulfil their promise of giving us the plot’s possession,” he said.

Sachin said the group authorities kept delaying the matter, citing different reasons every time they approached them for the plot’s possession. “Arun Mishra even misbehaved and threatened us with dire consequences when we approached him a few months ago. They have not even returned the amount taken in the name of the plot,” he said.

Earlier on November 13 and October 4, 2019, similar FIRs were registered against the group, accusing its authorities of cheating investors and threatening them with dire consequences. As many as 24 criminal cases have been lodged against the group and its authorities at different police stations of Lucknow since 2017.

On September 29, Pranav Ansal was arrested by the Lucknow police after being detained by immigration authorities at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi while trying to board a flight to London. He and his father Sushil Ansal are wanted in several cases of fraud and criminal breach of trust. Two directors of the group, Arun Mishra and Harish Gulla, were arrested earlier in connection with two cases registered at the Vibhuti Khand police station of Lucknow on June 6, 2019.

Pranav had previously dismissed the allegations against him, calling the charges “false and frivolous”.

On Friday, a major controversy erupted after an audio clip went viral in which minister of state (independent charge), Swati Singh, was allegedly heard questioning the circle officer (CO) of Cantonment, Lucknow, Beenu Singh, for lodging an FIR against the builder (Ansal) and asking her to close the case.

The next day, chief minister Yogi Adityanath summoned the minister and asked her to explain her conduct in the audio clip in which she purportedly threatened a woman police officer for entertaining the complaint of the Kannuadia couple and asked her to close the ‘high profile case’.