Father-son duo who duped people with space suits held
New Delhi, May 9: A father and son, who claimed that they were preparing equipment to sell to NASA for Rs 37,500 crore, have been arrested by Delhi Police — after a businessman complained that he had been duped of Rs 1.43 crore by them.
The accused would tell investors that they were building a device called the ‘rice puller’, which could be used to generate “electricity from thunderbolts”, and that they would sell it to NASA via the DRDO once it was ready.
Police said that they had duped at least 30 people from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. JCP (Crime Branch) Alok Kumar identified the arrested accused as Virender Mohan Brar (56) and his son Nitin Mohan Brar (30).
Police said they had recovered what the accused claimed were “copper plates, anti-radiation suits, anti-radiation chemical stickers” as well as a laptop, printer, foreign cheque books, fake ID cards and an Audi car from their possession.
“A few years ago, the complainant, Narender Saini, met Virender, who told him his company would sell the ‘rice puller’ to NASA after building it. He said he needed seed money for this purpose,” JCP Kumar said.
Police said Virender told Saini that he would be paid Rs 10 crore as soon as tests for the equipment were successful. “Saini entered into an MoU with Virender and paid Rs 87.2 lakh for ‘anti-radiation suits’, which the accused said would be worn by scientists during testing. They said tests were scheduled in Hapur, but could not be held as the place was ‘not conducive’. They also took him to an office in East of Kailash to convince him that he was not being conned,” he said.
The accused also “roped in fake actors posing as DRDO officials, after giving them a salary of Rs 20,000, just to convince Saini about the authenticity of the equipment,” DCP Bhisham Singh said, adding that the father-son duo were also arrested, and released on bail, earlier.
“They were earlier arrested when they allegedly sold snakes in Dehradun for Rs 17 lakh by claiming that the reptiles were rare and had medicinal properties. They were also arrested from Kurukshetra in a separate case, but resumed duping people once they came out,” an official said.
Police said they stayed in the posh Meera Bagh area at a rent of Rs 60,000 per month. “They travelled in luxury cars with two personal security officers who carried weapons, at a salary of Rs 35,000. They wore branded clothes and sported expensive watches. With their confidence and fluent English, most people would not suspect them,” an officer said, adding that they ran seven offices in Delhi.
“Virender ran a motor workshop in the 1990s and Nitin assisted him. But they faced financial losses and started duping people on the pretext of selling rare and antique objects such as magic mirror, rice puller and two-headed snakes,” Kumar said. “The arrest was made by a team of inspector Sunil Jain and ACP Aditya Gautam.”
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Approval of registered housing societies must to operate liquor shops on their premises: Ajit Pawar
Nagpur (PTI): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said that shops selling Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) as well as country liquor will be required to obtain mandatory consent from registered housing societies before commencing operations from the commercial spaces on their premises.
Pawar, who also heads the excise department, directed that this new policy be implemented across the state.
"Permission from registered housing societies will now be compulsory for both categories of liquor shops. The policy must be enforced uniformly throughout Maharashtra," Pawar told the Lower House of the state legislature while responding to a question raised by BJP MLA Shankar Jagtap, who represents the Chinchwad assembly constituency in Pune district.
Jagtap sought cancellation of licences of liquor shops operating in Chinchwad-Kalewadi area of Pune.
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During the discussion, he said that Vikrant Wine, a liquor shop in Sahyadri Society, had begun operations in violation of norms.
The building was incomplete when permission was granted, and the licence had been issued on the basis of incomplete documents, Jagtap said, demanding action against those responsible.
Responding to this, Pawar reiterated the mandatory requirement of the respective housing society's consent for liquor outlets, and informed the House about the action taken regarding the two shops against which complaints had been received.
During the Budget session of the state legislature held in March this year, Pawar had announced that a no-objection certificate (NOC) from housing societies will be mandatory for liquor vends if they wish to migrate to their premises.
Many housing societies have commercial establishments, with some even having liquor vends.
