Delhi: Real estate company dupes retired govt official of Rs 3.5 lakh

Delhi: A real estate company has allegedly duped a retired Central government official of more than Rs 3.5 lakh in a long-standing housing project that was closed abruptly on Barakhamba Road here, police said on Thursday.

Police registered an FIR based on a complaint lodged by Manoj Anand, who retired from the Department of Telecommunications, government of India.

According to the FIR, the company launched a housing project in 2004 in which Anand booked a 300-square yard plot.

However, after nearly two decades, the project was closed abruptly with the accused allegedly transferring the land to its associate companies, leaving Anand and other investors without their promised plots.

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“I applied for the plot in 2004 by paying an initial amount of Rs 1.5 lakh. Many other transactions were also carried out as per the accused’s demands, totalling Rs 3.56 lakh, including the receipt for Rs 2.06 lakh following the company’s announcement of receiving a ‘no objection certificate’ from the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA),” the FIR said.

The project was displayed on the company’s website under ‘upcoming projects’ until 2023 before it was suddenly removed, raising concerns among the investors, the FIR said.

Anand said that despite repeated attempts to contact the company, he was unable to get a clear response on the present status of the project.

The company refused to provide any clarity while phone calls to its office either went unanswered or were redirected to a fax machine, the FIR said.

Other plot applicants also expressed similar grievances, claiming the company allegedly transferred the land to one of its associate companies by using funds collected from the prospective homebuyers.

Four more victims — Jitender Thakur, Mohinder Singh, Manoj Chaudhary and Sandeep — have also filed complaints against the real-estate company, alleging that approximately 2,000 plots were booked in the housing project between 2004 and 2005, with the company collecting around Rs 50 crore as booking amount.

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Despite receiving the funds, the company allegedly sold parts of the project land to its associates between 2014 and 2019, the complainants alleged.

They also claimed that the company’s collaborator launched a new project on the same land, for which the JDA issued a licence in 2020, selling approximately 300 plots to the public.