Pune: The Hadapsar police on Wednesday booked a man for duping a local businessman to the tune of more than Rs 1.02 crore — on the pretext of exporting grapes to Russia — between November 5, 2015, and December 12, 2016.
Ashok Ishwar Tupe (46), of Sadesatranali in Hadapsar, has been running a business of exporting grapes, jointly with his cousin, since 2012. He also has a textile business.
A man got in touch with Tupe and had promised his good money for a consignment of grapes, that was supposed to be exported to Russia.
Police said Tupe had supplied nine containers of grapes, totally worth Rs 2.14 crore, to the man. These grapes were exported to Russia by ship, starting from November 5, 2015. Tupe, however, received only about Rs 1.12 crore from the man. In spite of repeated reminders, the man did not pay the balance of Rs 1.02 crore to Tupe, said the police.
On August 4, 2017, the man issued a cheque of Rs 34 lakh to Tupe. However, he had instructed his bank to not release the payment.
Since all efforts to recover the money had proved futile, Tupe decided to lodge an FIR against the man under the Indian Penal Code, police said.
Vishnu Pawar, Hadapsar's senior inspector, said, "Ashok Ishwar Tupe had initially filed a complaint application against the suspect. The suspect was booked after an inquiry revealed his involvement in the crime."
