A Maharashtra court has issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against a city woman who allegedly cheated three farmers and an agricultural firm of the neighbouring state to the tune of Rs. 27 lakh over a deal on purchase of greenhouse structures.
The Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Court in Kolhapur district on Monday issued the NBW against the Managing Director of Indus Floritech Ltd Shailaja Mahaveer Golecha, a resident of Banjara Hills here, in a cheque bounce case.
The court directed the Central Crime Station—a wing of the Hyderabad Police, to arrest Golecha and produce her before it on or before November 3.
Earlier, the court had issued summons twice—on July 17 and September 1—directing her to appear before the court, police sources here said, adding “Shailaja is absconding as the previous summons issued by the Kolhapur court were not delivered as she was not present at her residence.”
Giving details of the case, a police officer here said three Kolhapur farmers and a Pune agricultural firm struck a deal in July 2006 with Golecha for buying eight greenhouse structures set up on her agricultural field at Medchal on the outskirts of the city.
The farmers S. Patne, R. D. Patil and A. Patne and the firm paid Rs. 40,000 as advance and later paid Rs. 27 lakh through demand drafts. However, she demanded an additional Rs. 15 lakh above the agreed amount, he said.
Golecha sold the greenhouse structures to another party when the Maharashtra farmers refused to pay the extra amount, the police officer said.
On the persistent demand to return the money, Golecha issued six post-dated cheques for an amount of Rs. 27 lakh to the farmers and the Pune firm during 2007 and 2008, the officer said, adding that all the cheques were dishonoured for want of cash.
Following the bouncing of the cheques, the farmers approached the courts at Pune and Kolhapur last year.
“While Shailaja appeared before the Pune court, she failed to attend in Kolhapur court and hence a NBW was issued against her,” the police officer said.
