Held from Ayodhya, how ‘conman’ fleeced victims across 3 states

A resident of Ayodhya, Chaudhary is facing multiple charges pertaining to cheating, forgery of documents and criminal conspiracy in 10 cases registered in UP, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan. The Uttarakhand government had even announced a reward of Rs 15,000 on Chaudhary.

The Indian Express has accessed all the 10 FIRs registered against him, which reveal his Modus Operandi.

First case in Rajasthan

The oldest cheating case against Chaudhary was registered at the Shyam Nagar police station of Jaipur City (South) district on June 7, 2018. Rajesh Kumar Khandelwal, an export businessman, had alleged that Kumar had cheated him of Rs 58 lakh on the pretext of providing a loan of Rs 25 crore at 3% interest rate, according to the FIR. Khandelwal never got the loan. According to the STF, a settlement procedure was underway in the case.

Two cases in Uttarakhand

The hill state has seen two cases registered against Chaudhary at Khatima and Haldwani police stations, respectively. In the 2021 case, in Khatima, Mahpal Giri, director of a Cooperative Society Ltd, had said that Chaudhary was among 15 people who had cheated several people of lakhs of rupees in the name of a Fixed Deposit (FD) scheme. In Haldwani, on April 25, 2022, Vinay Kumar Rathore filed a complaint against nine persons, including Chaudhary, stating that many customers were cheated of around Rs 90 lakh on the pretext of FD account investment in a cooperative society.

Fraud in Prayagraj for loan worth Rs 250 crore

Vipin Mishra, a resident of Prayagraj, said that his company was in need of loan for different projects when he came in contact with Chaudhary. The latter promised Mishra help in getting a loan of Rs 250 crore. The complainant said he paid Rs 6 crore as processing fees to get the loan passed. “Two years have passed, but I have still not got the loan. When I demanded my money back, they asked me to pay another 1.5 crore. When I denied, they threatened to kill me and implicate me in an SC/ST case,” reads the FIR registered on August 9, 2023 at Naini Police Station.

Cases in Bareilly, Amroha, Shamli
Another victim, Mohd Saleem, 42, said that Chaudhary and Alam, posing as the director and chairman respectively of two cooperative societies, had asked him to invest with them with the promise to double the amount. In an FIR registered on November 8, 2022, Saleem said he had invested Rs 3.51 lakh and when he asked for his money back after maturity, they allegedly declined to do so. A similar case was registered in the Gajraula Police station in Amroha district on August 19, 2021, involving 13 victims. Similarly, at least six persons from Shamli had filed complaints against seven persons including Chaudhary for cheating them in the name of a Fixed Deposit scheme in a cooperative society.

‘Cheated’ a family friend in Lucknow

Ravi Roz, an employee of a finance company in Punjab, was allegedly cheated of Rs 35 lakh by Chaudhary. According to the FIR registered at Vikas Nagar Police station in Lucknow on April 9, 2019, the complainant said that due to his “family relations” with the accused, he had loaned Chaudhary a total of Rs 43 lakh during 2016-17 but got only Rs 8 lakh in return. Roz further said he had filed a complaint regarding the same with the PMO in August 2018.

Got approval for gunner

When he was arrested, a Ghaziabad police gunner, Pawan Kumar, was seen accompanying Chaudhary in his SUV. The gunner was later suspended for going to Ayodhya without authorisation. Mayank Arora, the VIP cell incharge at Ghaziabad Commissionerate, said in his complaint that Chaudhary had got approval for the gunner from the police on multiple occasions since 2020.

According to the STF FIR filed in the Cantt police station of Ayodhya, Chaudhary used to get fake letters from one of his relatives based in Chennai and used to forward them to officials concerned to get police security.