A city court has sentenced eight members of a family to six years’ imprisonment for using the funds of a company in which one of them was a partner to buy land and fraudulently register it in their names. Some 33 acres of land worth more than ₹200 crore were grabbed.
Ruling on a criminal case against them, judicial magistrate of Alandur, N. Sultan Aribeen observed, “Considering the financial loss and mental agony of the complainant in the case and the rising number of cheating and fraud cases and criminal breach of trust on gullible buyers of property in society, no leniency should be shown to the accused.”
According to the prosecution, the main accused Dhanraj N. Kochhar started D. R. Foundations and Estates Pvt. Ltd. along with the complainant, M.S. Hameed and S. Abdul Rawoof. The company was to be a land developer, builder and contractor.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mr. Hameed initially invested ₹1.71 crore for purchase of land in the company’s name.
Misused position
The charge against the accused is that by misappropriating the funds of the company and by misusing his position, Dhanraj purchased lands in Siruseri village, Chengalpattu taluk, Kancheepuram in his name and in the names of other family members — sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mr. Hameed lodged a complaint with the Thoraipakkam police in 2006. The case was handed over to the Anti-Land Grabbing Cell of the Central Crime Branch. Nine persons, including Dhanraj Kochhar, were tried before the judicial magistrate court for offences including criminal breach of trust, abetment and criminal conspiracy.
As the accused preferred appeals in the higher courts, the case had been pending in the trial court for long.
At the end of the trial, judicial magistrate Mr. Aribeen held Dhanraj Kochhar and seven others in his family as guilty. He sentenced them to six years’ imprisonment besides imposing a fine of ₹20,000 each. One of the sons was acquitted for lack of evidence.