Chandigarh: 3 years on, Sector 33 man held guilty of fraud

Chandigarh, October 26

A local court convicted a city resident in a case of cheating.

The convict, Ram Chhangur, a resident of Sector 33, was booked in a case registered against him three years ago. At least 18 city residents had filed complaints against him. They had accused him of duping them of over Rs 60 lakh. They had alleged that the accused was involved in a committee business and allured them to invest money for handsome benefits.

They said they started investing in a committee floated by the accused. Initially, everything was going smooth, but later the accused started avoiding people who had invested in the scheme and claimed return on their investment.

He issued cheques to some persons, which were returned as dishonoured.

The complainants had alleged that when they requested him to refund their invested amount, he flatly refused and threatened them with dire consequences.

A case under the offences punishable under Section 420 of the IPC, read with Section 3, 4 5 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act was registered against Chhangur.

After investigation, the police filed a chargesheet in the court.

On finding prima facie a case, the court framed charges against the accused, to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed a trial.

After hearing of the arguments, the court sentenced the accused to undergo seven years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) after convicting him in the cheating case.

Meanwhile, another court sentenced the accused to one year and two months of RI in a cheque-bounce case. The court pronounced the sentence in a case registered on a complaint filed by a Sector 33 resident, Ramesh Chander, through advocate Mandeep Singh Mandy. The complainant had stated that the accused issued him a cheque, which was dishonoured when presented in the bank.