Bhojpuri actor and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Kajal Sanjay Nishad was allegedly duped of Rs 70 lakh by three people including two developers and a construction work supplier who promised her a residential flat in a Goregaon society, police said Monday. According to Nishad, 42, who has worked in several popular television series including “Lapataganj”, and Bhojpuri films, the flat which the accused promised turned out to be a disputed one. Based on a complaint filed by Nishad, Dindoshi police on Sunday registered an FIR in the matter and initiated an investigation. The police have booked Sarita Mantri and Sunil Mantri of Mantri Realties and Shanti Narayan Rathi, the owner of Synergy Construction. As per the FIR, the alleged fraud took place between December 2015 and February 2016. The three accused allegedly accepted Rs 46.60 lakh from Nishad for selling a flat in the Mantri Serene building in Goregaon (East). “While selling the said flat, Sarita Mantri and Shanti Narayan allegedly claimed that the flat is owned by Sarita's husband Sunil and that the flat’s title was clear. After this, the agreement was duly signed by both parties, and the registration formality too was done,” Nishad stated in her statement to the police. However, later, Nishad found out that the flat's title was disputed. As she never got her flat's possession, she demanded her money. "The flat's ownership was disputed, and a day after we made the payment, a court notice was also pasted there," said Nishad’s husband Sanjay Nishad. “In 2021, we tried to come to a settlement through a mediator. In this, it was decided that the three would pay back a total of Rs 85 lakh. However, they paid only Rs 15 lakh and never paid the remaining Rs 70 lakh," Sanjay Nishad said. The Dindoshi police booked the three accused under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and are further investigating the case, said an officer. When contacted, Sunil Mantri said they have nothing to do with the said flat as it was sold by his company in 2013 to Synergic Constructions. Sunil Mantri said, “I have even learnt that a cancellation of the flat sale was finalised between Synergy construction and Kajal Nishad and it was decided that Shanti Narayan would be paying Rs 40 lakh to her. He paid Rs 15 lakh and the rest of the amount was to be paid after Kajal Nishad produced a registered document.” “When police earlier contacted me, I had given a written statement to them and explained my side. I have even filed a defamation case against Kajal Nishad at the Girgaon court in 2018,” he said. Meanwhile, Shanti Narayan Rathi said that the said flat was sold to Kajal Nishad but it was taken into possession by the court liquidator over other company matters. “My company signed an MoU with Kajal Nishad and decided to pay her back Rs 40 lakh after deed cancellation and also specified the terms and condition. We even paid Rs 15 lakh and promised them that the rest of the money would also be paid. The same was also submitted before the police and despite all this an FIR was filed,” Rathi said.
