Gold Souk MD arrested

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 27

A day after the registration of a case against the partners of a real estate company, Gold Souk, the police today nabbed its Managing Director, Amit Gupta.

Yesterday, dozens of complainants met Police Commissioner RN Dhoke, seeking registration of a case against the company. It was learnt that the complaints had been pending with the Economic Offence Wing of the city police for over a year, and no case was being registered citing the ongoing inquiry as reason. Yesterday, the complainants met Dhoke and apprised him of the slow progress in inquiry. After their meeting with the CP, an FIR was immediately registered.

Dhoke said the case was registered against chairman of the real estate group Surendra Gupta, vice-chairman Ashish Gupta, managing director Amit Gupta and joint managing director Gaurav Gupta. Today, the Ladowal police nabbed Amit Gupta.

“We are conducting raids at the suspected hideouts of the rest of the partners of the company. Soon, they will be behind the bars. Further action in the case will be taken on merit and justice will be delivered to the complainants,” Dhoke added.

Dhoke said people had invested lakhs of rupees in the group on the assurance that the company would build them shops-cum-residences in a township near the Ladowal area. According to the complainants, the company duped them of around Rs 6 crore.

One of the complainants, Harpinder Singh, a resident of Model Town, who has invested Rs 40 lakh in the company, said each of the complainant had reportedly invested a minimum of Rs 5 lakh in the investment scheme of the company in 2011. The maximum individual investment could be over Rs 50 lakh. However, the company has failed to construct the township.

“Instead of returning our money, the company management has been asking the investors to take property or land at some other place in the state. But the value of land offered by the company was quite less than the project in which we have invested. Our complaints had been lying pending for the past one and a half years. Every time the police called the company officials for questioning, they escaped by making hollow promises of returning the investors’ money,” Harpinder said.

Who have been booked
Commissioner of Police RN Dhoke said the case was registered against chairman of the real estate group Surendra Gupta, vice-chairman Ashish Gupta, managing director Amit Gupta and joint managing director Gaurav Gupta. On Wednesday, the Ladowal police nabbed Amit Gupta.