Gujarat cops detain Mumbai businessman in Rs 13 crore cheating case

Ahmedabad, Jul 2 (PT) A businessman, sentenced to life imprisonment under the Anti-Hijacking Act for leaving a hijack threat note on a flight but later acquitted by the Gujarat High Court, has been detained by the crime branch here for allegedly cheating a jeweller in Mumbai, an official said.

Birju Salla, wanted in a ponzi scam in Maharashtra and for allegedly cheating a jeweller by not returning his gold and diamond worth Rs 13 crore, was detained from an undisclosed location.

"Salla is currently being questioned by the crime branch. He was 'wanted' in a Ponzi scam in Maharashtra. He was earlier convicted (and later acquitted) for threatening to hijack an aircraft. More details will be shared on Thursday," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ajit Rajian.

A police inspector stated that Salla, a resident of Tardeo in Mumbai, has been absconding in the cheating case registered against him last month.

"As per the FIR registered on June 10, Salla allegedly cheated a jeweller to the tune of Rs 13 crore by not returning his gold, silver, and diamonds he had borrowed. He was never arrested in that case. We have detained him from an undisclosed location for questioning," he said, adding that a court in Mumbai recently rejected Salla's application for pre-arrest bail.

Salla was the first person to be booked under the stringent Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016, for allegedly leaving a note in the business class of the Mumbai-Delhi Jet Airways flight on October 30, 2017. The note, written in English and Urdu, stated, "There are hijackers on board and explosives on the plane". It demanded that the plane be flown to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The prosecution had claimed that Salla prepared the note, hoping Jet Airways would shut down its Delhi operation and that his girlfriend, who worked in the airline's office in Delhi, would return to Mumbai.

The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Ahmedabad on June 11, 2019, sentenced Salla to life imprisonment under the Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016.

The Gujarat High Court in August 2023 quashed and set aside the NIA court's order, saying the trial court sentenced him for the offence of hijacking “on the premise of evidence which is tainted with doubt.” PTI PJT PD NSK