SURAT: Olpad police on Sunday arrested a Bhestan resident who duped a businessman of Rs77 lakh promising him coastal land for shrimp farming. While the accused took a total Rs 97 lakh in multiple transactions from the complainant under various pretexts, he failed to return Rs77 lakh, said the FIR.
Accused Hardik Patel had even told the complainant Sandip Patel, who runs a shrimp farm, from Bhandariwad Faliya in Mor village near Olpad, that he paid Rs 50 lakh to BJP MLA from Olpad, Mukesh Patel, for the promised land.
However, Patel not only clarified that he is not involved in the matter but also submitted an application to the police demanding to register a separate FIR against the accused for naming him as receiver of the money.
Accused was produced in a local court which sent him to judicial custody.
According to police, the complainant wanted to start a shrimp farms business and a relative introduced him to the accused in 2018. Hardik, who claimed to have good contacts in government offices, offered to provide land for shrimp farms.
Meanwhile, in January 2020, while the land was allotted to applicants, Sandip’s name was not there in the list. When he contacted Hardik, the accused told him that he had already paid Rs 50 lakh to the MLA.
Sandip then contacted MLA Mukesh Patel directly and was told that he neither received any money nor knows about it.
“Sandip came with a recording in which Hardik was claiming that he paid Rs 50 lakh to me. Later I with the help of my friends traced Hardik and questioned him to reveal the truth when he confessed that he was lying,” Mukesh told TOI.
“The accused who would loiter in offices of politicians would establish himself as having ‘good contacts’ in the government. He has duped many others in Surat and these people too will approach the police now,” said the complainant.
Police arrested the accused and are gathering more evidence to prove charges of the complainant. “Police will thoroughly check evidence and take action based on it,” said Usha Rada, superintendent of police, Surat.