The Hindu : New Delhi News : Man arrested for duping crockery dealer

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 14, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Man arrested for duping crockery dealer

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JULY 13. A 37-year-old man who had allegedly duped a crockery dealer of Rs. 74 lakhs in the name of buying items from him for the purpose of organising an exhibition has been arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi police. He had also duped people in Mumbai in the name of holding an exhibition of Taj Mahal replica made of plywood and plaster of Paris.

According to the police, Zahid Siddiqui, a resident of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, had approached one Arun Mehra, owner of a crockery shop at Sadar Bazar in North Delhi, in July 2000 offering to buy crockery from him in bulk for holding exhibitions across the country.

Mr. Mehra got convinced with the proposal and delivered a consignment worth Rs. 17

lakhs in Meerut in October 2000. Subsequently, he sent some more consignments - worth Rs. 57 lakhs - to various places like Haldwani, Dehra Dun, Pune, Delhi and also Mumbai.

However, Zahid did not pay Mr. Mehra for the consignments delivered to him. When Mr. Mehra insisted that his dues be paid, Zahid gave him seven cheques worth Rs. 32 lakhs. He also executed a General Power of Attorney (GPA) of two shops, located at Vivekanandpuri in R.K. Puram, in favour of Mr. Mehra and his partner Naresh Gupta. All the cheques pertaining to accounts in Syndicate Bank, Malviya Nagar, and Nedungadi Bank, Chennai, bounced as the accounts were closed. Even the shops, which were given to Mr. Mehra, were found to be in possession of some one else. But, by the time the fraud came to light, Zahid had disappeared.

Meanwhile, Zahid used the money to float a company in the name of Taj Exhibits Private Limited, based in Lucknow. He began projecting himself as an event manager capable of holding major exhibitions and came up with the idea of holding an exhibition of huge replicas of Taj Mahal, which would be made of plywood and plaster of Paris. The event was to be organised at Somai Medical Complex, Sion, Mumbai, and supposed to continue for a month.

Zahid advertised about the event in a big way and also collected, worth Rs. 1.25 crores, by selling advertisement spots, parking contracts and stall booking from people who were convinced about the event.

In fact, Zahid did put up the exhibition in April 2004 and it was also inaugurated by a VVIP of Maharashtra. But, after 12 days, Zahid quietly vanished from the place even as the participants began clamouring for their payment. Subsequently, the show was stopped and a criminal case was registered.

The police said Zahid, who belonged to a family of crockery dealers, had completed his post-graduation in science from Aligarh Muslim University. He then completed a diploma in hotel management from an institute in Delhi. In his bid to earn easy money, he hit upon the idea of floating fake event management company.

Further investigations in the case are on.

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