Mumbai police's EOW searches premises of builder in cheating case

Mumbai, Jan 25 (PTI) The Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) is conducting searches at multiple premises of city-based builder Lalit Tekchandani, who is facing a cheating case here, on Thursday, an official said.

The searches are going on at the residence of Tekchandani, his office and two other premises in the city, he said.

The Mumbai police had last week registered a first information report (FIR) against Tekchandani, his wife, the directors of his company Supreme Constructions and a few others at the Chembur police station.

The complainant in the case said he had invested Rs 36 lakh in Tekchandani's construction project at Taloja in Navi Mumbai. The company assured him that the project would be ready in 2017. However, its construction stopped suddenly in 2016. Hundreds of flat buyers invested in Tekchandani's project, but they neither got the flats nor received their money back, the complaint said.

Based on the complaint, Tekchandani and others were booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and others, police said.

"The EOW has been probing the case against Tekchandani and others following the registration of the FIR," the official said.

One more FIR was registered at the Taloja police station in Navi Mumbai against Tekchandani and others last week. As per the complaint, 160 home buyers were duped by the accused to the tune of Rs 44 crore in his company's housing project at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai, police said. PTI DC NP