Gurugram police on Friday arrested Dhruv Dutt Sharma, CEO of the firm behind the 32nd Avenue commercial real estate project in Gurgaon. Sharma’s arrest was based on a complaint of cheating filed by a company over the sale of a property within the high-profile 32nd Avenue complex.
Dhruv Sharma was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Gurugram Police on Friday and produced before a local court. He has been remanded to six days of police custody.
Why was the CEO of 32nd Avenue arrested?
In a first information report (FIR) filed on January 2, Traum Ventures Pvt Ltd said Sharma and associates entered into an agreement for sale for a 3,000-square-foot commercial unit in the first floor 32nd Avenue building in September 2021 for ₹2.5 crore. The company claims it paid the amount to Sharma but it never received ownership of the property.
The FIR, of which HT has accessed a copy, was filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property).
(Also read: Gurugram: Owner of 32nd Avenue arrested in cheating case)
{{/usCountry}}(Also read: Gurugram: Owner of 32nd Avenue arrested in cheating case)
{{/usCountry}}Over the past several days, investors and employees associated with 32nd Avenue have been staging protests, alleging non-payment of dues and claiming that Sharma had stopped responding to calls and messages.
Who is Dhruv Sharma?
Dhruv Sharma is the 34-year-old founder and CEO of 32nd Avenue — an upscale, mixed-use lifestyle development in Sector 15, Gurgaon, known for its European-style architecture, cobbled pathways and aesthetic cafes.
Sharma is a resident of DLF Camellias in Sector 42 on Golf Course Road, one of the country’s most exclusive and expensive residential addresses.
He is a 2013 graduate of Boston University in the United States. According to his LinkedIn profile, Sharma had a Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.) degree in Entrepreneurship, Computer Science, Hospitality.
After graduating from Boston University, Sharma started GuestHouser in 2014 as a portal to discover and book vacation rentals.
In 2018, he was named on the ‘Forbes 30 Under 30 - Asia’ list for Retail & Ecommerce.
Since 2015, he has served as managing director of 32nd. He was responsible for developing and managing the company's real estate portfolio across Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, and Goa.