Contractor duped of Rs 61 lakh by Bangalore company

Assured an agency to sell solar energy equipment

Aurangabad, March 22:

A case has been registered against a Bangalore-based company for defrauding a construction contractor of Rs 61 lakh by offering him an agency to sell solar energy equipment.

Manjitsingh Kevalsingh Sodhi (43, Osmanpura) works as a construction contractor. Meanwhile, in February 2019, his friend Appasaheb Dongre contacted him and said that his friend Santosh Shivdasan Narayan (Bangalore) works as a CEO in a Nano Science and Technologies Pvt Ltd company in Bangalore, Karnataka. The company producing solar powered equipment wants to appoint distributors in Maharashtra.

As Sodhi was interested in becoming a distributor, Dongre arranged a meeting between Sodhi and Narayan at Waluj MIDC on February 18, 2019. During the meeting, Narayan expressed readiness to appoint Sodhi as the distributor. Sodhi was also asked to pay a security deposit of Rs 35 lakh to Nano Science for the security of the goods sent by the company. As per the agreement, it was agreed to pay Sodhi Rs 1.50 lakh per month out of the Rs 35 lakh security deposit or 4 per cent commission from the transaction made by the company, whichever is higher. Sodhi, Narayan and Dongre were present while signing the agreement. Following the agreement, Sodhi had deposited Rs 30 lakh from his bank account through Nano Science Company through RTGS. Sodhi had promised to deposit the remaining Rs 5 lakh in a month.

Received only Rs 1.50 lakh deposited

After being hired as a distributor, Sodhi had rented a warehouse on Dongre's plot for Rs 18,000 per month to keep the goods. A few days later, Narayan contacted Sodhi and asked him to pay the remaining Rs 5 lakh of the security deposit. On April 3, 2019, Sodhi deposited Rs 5 lakh in the company's account. Following the agreement, the company deposited Rs 1.50 lakh in Sodhi's bank account on May 10. However, no money was paid by the company thereafter. Hence Sodhi lodged a complaint in the MIDC Waluj police station for fraud of Rs 60.98 lakh. PSI Rajendra Bangar is conducting further investigation under the guidance of inspector Sandeep Gurme.