The Central Crime Branch of the Coimbatore City Police have arrested two employees of a property development firm for allegedly cheating those who had booked houses by depositing several lakh rupees for houses that they were promised by the firm.
The police said that in December 2013, the company that was located on Cowley Brown Road published advertisements in a leading Tamil daily that houses at very attractive price would be constructed close to Telungupalayam and be handed over to the customers by the end of December 2014.
One of the depositors was Balaji, a retired bank employee from Saravanampatti who deposited Rs. 6.45 lakh as advance.
On visiting the promised construction site to see the progress of work, he was shocked to see that there was no sign of construction activity. The police said that the builder delayed starting the work claiming that it took time for the approval from authorities concerned in Chennai.
No sign
With no sign of construction beginning, Balaji preferred a complaint with the city police, recently.
Owner of the firm Suber Ahamed (35), of Bilal Estate in Ukkadam, and employees Durai N. Vishnu Varadhan (27), a B.E. civil engineering graduate of Kovilpatti, and Vigneshwaran (26), an MBA graduate of Masakalipalayam, have been booked under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing in delivery of property) and 120(B) (punishment for criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
On Monday the police arrested Vishnu and Vigneshwaran, produced them before Judicial Magistrate-I in the Coimbatore Combined Court and lodged them in jail under judicial custody till November 2.
Search is on for Suber Ahamed, who is reportedly under hiding.
It is learnt that the accused were also operating in Chennai with their office at the Director’s Colony in Kodambakkam, where they had allegedly cheated depositors, before they closed operations.
The police said that a few investors from Chennai who were cheated by them lodged complaints with the police here, and were referred to the Chennai City Police.
