A Kota based businessman Ram Kumar Dadhich, who runs educational institutes, has lodged an FIR with Mumbai Police against Ashutosh Kumar Sahay, who claims to be an officer of Group A services of Government of India. Dadhich has accused Sahay and his accomplices including his wife of duping him Rs 5.77 crore on pretext of doubling the amount.
Since the complaint pertains to a ‘Group A' services officer, the case will be investigated by a deputy commissioner of police and supervised by the joint commissioner of police.
What is the complaint?
Dadhich in his complaint alleged that Sahay and his wife Monica and their partners Manoj Patil and Sanjay Pandey, lured him and some of his friends to invest in Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) projects. Sahay claimed he would use his connections in the government to help them double their investment.
Police said he showed some fake documents of land in Bhandup and Kanjurmarg and collected Rs 1.50 crore from Dadich and Rs 4.27 crore from his friends.
As per the FIR, Sahay told Dadhich that he had land in the Kanjurmarg-Bhandup area and won his trust by showing the ownership documents, valuation certificate and undertaking of that land and got Dadhich to invest money in his projects. However, the investors neither received any returns nor got back their principal amount. Instead, when they demanded their money back, Sahay allegedly resorted to threats.
The FIR also mentioned that Sahay was booked and arrested by Janakpuri police in Delhi and the CBI (ACB) in Delhi in the past for similar fraud and in a bribery case.
Preliminary investigation finds FIR correct
An offence was registered at Versova police station and the case was transferred to the Property cell of the crime branch. Police early this year booked Sahay and three others under sections of the Indian Penal Code and of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act. In August police arrested Manoj Patil, an estate agent.
Sahay had approached the sessions court even before the FIR was registered in the matter, but his plea was rejected. Later, he also approached the high court for quashing of the FIR which too was rejected. Thereafter, Sahay approached the high court for interim relief.
What Sahay says?
Sahay, however, maintains that he is not the accused person Sahay and his name and mobile number (Sahay's four numbers have been mentioned in the FIR) were misused in the case.
“I am a civil servant and an FIR cannot be registered against me without securing prosecution sanction,” he had said.
Though he said that he knew the complainant Dadhich and said that he has filed a Non cognizable offence (NC) against him at the Versova police station to ensure that no police officer can investigate unless he obtains prior permission of a Magistrate having power to try such case.
Who is Ashutosh Kumar Sahay?
The LinkedIn profile of Sahay shows him as 1992 batch of civil services Group A officer working as special secretary vigilance and administration under central government. In the profile, he also claims to have served Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal as officer on special duty (OSD). He also claims to be osd to minister of state home affairs.
The BuckStopper, run by a group of seasoned journalists, holds the powerful accountable. The buck stops with them, as they cannot shrug off their official responsibilities.
