Kanpur cops drop fraud case against Amar Singh,Bachchan

The case,alleging a fraud amounting to Rs 500 crore,was lodged at Babupurwa police station of Kanpur on the complaint of one Shiv Kant Tripathi on October 15,2009. Tripathi told The Indian Express that he would challenge the police closure report before the district judge court.

In his complainant,Tripathi had alleged that Amar Singh in his capacity as chairman of UP Development Council during the last regime of Samajwadi Party,had misused his position for personal benefit. Tripathi said he had submitted details of companies which had been used for amassing money illegally.

The complaint also included charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing charges related with money laundering.

Complainant Shiv Kant Tripathi said that the Allahabad High Court had directed the state government on October 12 to get the charges under IPC investigated by its own agency.

On October 24,the government handed over the investigation to the Kanpur police. On Friday,Pavitra Mohan Tripathi,the circle officer of Babupurwa and also the investigating officer,submitted the final report in court.

Initially,the UP police had transferred the case to Kolkata police on October 17,2009,stating that the origin of the offence occurred in Kolkata,but Kolkata police did not accept it and sent it back to Kanpur on October 20,with a note that the allegation in the FIR was related to Uttar Pradesh and therefore the investigation should be conducted by the UP Police.

The then ADG (Law & Order) Brij Lal on October 25 ordered the then Babupurwa police station SHO Dinesh Tripathi to investigate the case. However,the state government ordered transfer of investigation to EOW on October 26.

Meanwhile,on October 23,Amar Singh lodged a complaint at Ballygunge police station in Kolkata. He alleged that the then UP Chief Minister Mayawati,her minister Babu Singh Kushwaha,BSP MP Akhilesh Das,Mayawati’s secretary Navneet Sehgal and Brij Lal had hatched a conspiracy to frame him in a false case. He also named Dinesh Tripathi and Shivakant Tripathi in his complaint.

An EOW official said that they had recorded statements of 40 persons,but Amar Singh never appeared for the questioning. They had also sought assistance of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and SEBI for getting details about Amar Singh’s companies.

The ministry had reportedly got an inquiry done by the Serious Fraud Investigation Organisation and SEBI too had conducted a probe,but nothing substantial was found,the official added.