Former JNU employee arrested for duping professors of over Rs 11 crore
New Delhi (PTI): A 63-year-old former JNU employee was arrested for allegedly duping professors of the varsity and IIT Delhi of more than Rs 11 crore on the pretext of providing affordable housing project under the guise of DDA's purported land-pooling policy, police said on Wednesday.
The accused has been identified as P D Gaikwad, a resident of Gurugram in Haryana, they said.
An FIR was registered on the complaints of these professors.
It was alleged that in 2015, Gaikwad, who was working as a scientific officer at the university's School of Environmental Sciences, formed the Noble Socio-Scientific Welfare Organisation (NSSWO) claiming to provide affordable housing, police said.
He allegedly made a presentation and lured them to become members of the organisation. In his capacity as the president of the organisation, Gaikwad provided them details of a proposed housing project under DDA's purported land-pooling policy for which he said the NSSWO was in the process of procuring land in the proposed L-Zone, a senior police officer said.
The complainants became members of the NSSWO and booked units in the proposed project. The complainants paid membership fees and payments for their flats, police said.
On November 1, 2015, the accused took them to show a piece of land in the L-Zone, Najafgarh. However, he did not show any document supporting the purchase of the land. Over the years, they came to realise that he was allegedly cheating them, the officer said.
In 2019, Gaikwad allegedly told the complainants that he was going to launch a different society, Siddhartha Officers Housing and Social Welfare Society, through the Delhi government and as members of the NSSWO, complainants could change their membership to the new society by visiting his office in JNU, police said.
Since 2019, the complainants were writing to Gaikwad to return their money. He has collected more than Rs 11 crore from them and misappropriated the same, police said.
During investigation, complainants provided the materials/brochures and receipts issued by Gaikwad containing pictures of a housing project and depicting the said land-pooling policy, Deputy Commissioner of Police (EOW) Surendra Choudhary said.
Gaikwad had allegedly formed a society for cheating and became its president. E-mails sent by Gaikwad to the members on regular basis also contained the elements of inducement depicting the land-pooling policy of the DDA, Choudhary said.
However, during investigation, the DDA informed that it has not issued any license or granted any approval to any housing project under land-pooling policy in Dwarka or any other land-pooling zone nor authorised any developer/builder/society/company, including the NSSWO, to offer any flat in the name of DDA under land-pooling policy, they said.
RERA (Delhi) has confirmed that the alleged society has neither registered itself with it nor applied for registration. It was revealed that Gaikwad allegedly received more than Rs 11 crore in the account of the society from its members, however, the funds were either siphoned off through cash withdrawal or transferred to other accounts, police said.
The accused was arrested on December 14 from Delhi, Choudhary said.
As he was a permanent and senior official at JNU, they believed his words and became members of the society. Thereafter, he started collecting money from them in the name of purchasing the land for the project in the society's account, Choudhary said.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
