NGO chief ‘cheated bizman with forged papers’, booked

Gurgaon: The chairman of an NGO has been booked for allegedly duping a city-based entrepreneur of Rs 20 lakh by issuing a fake membership certificate.
The NGO, Human Rights Council of India (HRCI), was registered as a trust in 2013. According to complainant Surya Prakash Mathur Vaish, a city-based entrepreneur, HRCI claimed it was certified by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).
Vaish said he got in touch with Kumar through a common friend several years ago. In 2018, Kumar allegedly borrowed Rs 20 lakh from Vaish but failed to return the amount. “When I insisted on it, Kumar persuaded me to become a member of HRCI and adjusted the money in membership fees. In January 2019, he gave me an identity card and sticker, as well as a membership certificate which stated that HRCI was certified by NHRC and CVC,” Vaish said.
He added that Kumar kept on making excuses every time he requested him to show the papers of certification by NHRC and CVC. “I later came to know that no organisation had issued such certifications and the papers I was given were fake,” said Vaish.
Vaish wrote letters to NHRC and CVC regarding the matter in March 2019. In September, he received a reply from both commissions confirming that the certificate was fake. “The certificate which I was given was a forged oath certificate. Anyone can get an oath certificate by registering online and taking a pledge,” said Vaish.
For the past one year, Vaish has been filing complaints with NHRC, CVC, Prime Minister’s Office and even the President. On Thursday, a case was finally registered at Sector 50 police station under sections 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for cheating) and 471 (using fake documents) of the IPC. “A case has been registered and investigation is underway,” police spokesperson Subhash Boken said.
Ravinder Kumar, meanwhile, told TOI that they have already submitted a reply to a notice sent to them by NHRC and if they receive a notice from Gurgaon police, they will submit a response to them as well. “We are a social organisation and accept donations. There is no case of cheating and fraud. We haven’t taken any money for issuing certificates,” Kumar said.