Two years after he was declared a proclaimed offender by a city court, JVG group CMD Vijay Kumar Sharma, who allegedly duped a large number of investors to the tune of nearly Rs.1,000 crore by luring them to invest in his various business schemes in the 1990s as well as the last decade, was arrested for the third time on May 13 by the Delhi Police.
Accused in 10 different cases in the Capital, the latest being the one registered in 2012 when he was on the run, Sharma was arrested by the Crime Branch which laid a trap following a tip-off that he would come near Kailash Colony metro station. Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav said that on noticing a police team which had camped near the metro station, Sharma, who was driving a Mercedes car, sped away. But he was chased and caught.
“A brief chase ensued and the car of the accused was intercepted near Pragati Maidan on Bhairon Road and Sharma, who was trying to flee, was overpowered. A licensed .32 bore pistol and 5 live cartridges were also seized from him. During interrogation, the accused revealed his involvement in several cases of cheating amounting to Rs.1,000 crore which he collected by duping lakhs of people by floating over 17 companies,” said Mr. Yadav.
Mr. Yadav added that the accused had been arrested twice in the past. In 1998, after Sharma closed down many of his offices in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, panicked investors approached the police and the Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch arrested Sharma from Mumbai. After spending 16 months in jail, Sharma was granted bail by the Supreme Court in 1999.
In 2003, Sharma was arrested again in connection with a separate case but was granted bail on the condition of returning the money to the investors, said a senior police officer. Sharma, however, failed to meet the condition and after 2010 he even stopped attending court hearings. The following year he was declared a proclaimed offender.
In April 2012, when his bail was cancelled by the Supreme Court and he was directed to surrender, he went underground and six months later a reward of Rs.1 lakh was declared on his arrest.
