Hardware store duped of crores on pretext of deal for 'DRDO-approved radioactive' material

New Delhi: The Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police has arrested a man, part of a 22-member Jaipur-based group, for alleged duping a paint and hardware company of over Rs 10 crore from 2016 to 2018 in order to facilitate the sale of radioactive article available with him and purportedly approved by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), on the assurance of a profit of Rs 500 crore.

As per police, the complainant in the case, one Sanjay Taneja, who runs a paint and hardware shop at Ramesh Market in East of Kailash, alleged that a gang of 22 persons including Bhawani Singh Shekhawat, most of whom were residents of Jaipur, have duped him of a total sum of Rs 10.63 crore from March 2016 to September 2018 in order to facilitate sale of radioactive article which was available with the accused persons and was approved by DRDO.

"The victim was induced to invest for facilitation of this deal on the assurance of profit of Rs 500 crore. The said cheated amount was taken by accused persons through bank transfer, cheques and cash in several trances," RK Singh ACP(EOW) said.

After an FIR was lodged in the matter and the bank account statements were analyzed, it was found that the accused persons took money in a company named Barclays Metal World and this was shown as a UK-based foreign company and as a prospective buyer of the radio-active material. "The alleged persons kept on delaying the sale on guise of testing of the material and kept on receiving money from the complainant on pretext of maintenance of the radio-active material in various companies…" the ACP said, adding that on verification, the purported foreign company was found as a single proprietorship dealing in "Metal Scrap" under the name of other co-accused.