Builder booked for cheating Noida resident of over Rs 9 lakh after promising flat in Haridwar

In his complaint, the victim stated, “Yadav had said that his company is constructing villas, multi-storey residential buildings, flats and studio apartments by obtaining land from the Haridwar Industrial Development Authority of Uttarakhand. When I went to the site after seeing the advertisement, the staff assured me that there would be no issues while booking the apartment. In April 2013, I made a booking for a 550 sq ft space by paying Rs 1.48 lakh. I was assured by the company director that he would also give a discount of 4 per cent. I paid a total of Rs 9.35 lakh in five instalments.”

He further said that when he visited the site, no work was underway. “On the contrary, there were reports from the market that the said builder had defaulted and the allotment of land had been cancelled due to non-deposit of the amount. The amount for the flats was deposited fraudulently without completing the documentary formalities. When I asked for my money back, the builder and other employees said that the amount deposited would be returned soon. They got my signature on many papers in the name of refund,” he added.

Vats alleged that when he contacted them again in April 2019 seeking the return of his money, they threatened to kill him. “On the evening of 5.7.2023, when I was coming back from Ghaziabad, those people tried to kill me with a pistol. I alerted the Phase-3 police station, but they did not register a case. Later, I was forced to go before the court so that action would be taken against the accused,” he said.

A case was then registered under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 467, 486 and 471 (all three related to forgery), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code at the Phase-3 police station against Yadav and six others. An official said they are investigating the matter.