Nashik Police last week registered an FIR against Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot and 13 other persons for allegedly cheating a businessman from Maharashtra. What happened - and what is the current status of the police investigation? What are the allegations against Vaibhav Gehlot and the other persons named in the FIR? Sushil Patil, a 33-year-old businessman from Nashik, has accused Vaibhav Gehlot, a Gujarat-based Congress worker named Sachin Valera, and 12 other individuals of defrauding him to the tune of Rs 6.8 crore. The suspects, led by Valera, allegedly colluded to lure Patil into investing in Valera's company Abhik Advertisement Pvt Ltd, on the promise of high returns and the position of a sleeping partner in the firm. 🗞️ Subscribe Now: Get Express Premium to access the best Election reporting and analysis 🗞️ But how did the alleged fraudsters get the complainant to part with such a large sum of money? According to the complainant, he met Valera at a function organised by a common friend in Ahmedabad in mid-2018. They remained in touch, and also met a few times. During one of these meetings, Valera allegedly told the complainant that he was a director in an advertising company named Abhik Advertisement, which had a team of around 15 people. According to the complaint, Valera claimed that he was very close to Chief Minister Gehlot and his son Vaibhav, and looked after their finances. He would often post pictures of the Chief Minister at his home in Ahmedabad on social media, and showed pictures of himself with politicians from Punjab and Chhattisgarh. While offering Patil the position of a sleeping partner, Valera allegedly claimed that his company had the advertisement contract of a petroleum company in 13 states. He claimed Vaibhav Gehlot was affiliated with his company, and because of this association, his company wins all tenders for advertisements issued by the Rajasthan government, including those for Covid-19 awareness, e-toilets, and government medical supplies. To build trust, Valera would allegedly often make video calls to Patil from what he claimed was the home of the Chief Minister, and say that he was there to bag another contract for his company. He sent Patil pictures, purportedly of documents related to the investments that his company had made, and of circulars issued by the Rajasthan government. Patil believed these claims, and ended up investing heavily with Valera in the hope of high returns. So, where does Vaibhav Gehlot come in? Until the beginning of 2020, the complainant had put Rs 6.8 crore into the business. Initially, he got returns of 10-15 per cent on his investments. This went on for almost nine months. After the Covid-19 pandemic began, however, he stopped getting returns. Once Patil began to get impatient, in order to calm him down, Valera arranged a video call with Vaibhav Gehlot in mid-2020. Over the call, the Chief Minister's son assured Patil that the business would start again, and that he would get his share. When and how did the complainant stop believing these reassurances? As Patil mounted pressure on Valera, he was initially given vague reasons like the Chief Minister is unwell or that he is busy with the Assembly session. Thereafter he allegedly stopped answering the complainant's phone calls. "As I started bothering him more often, he even changed his mobile number and whenever I went to his house, his family would say that he was not at home," Patil said. In February 2022, Patil finally approached Nashik Police and submitted a complaint. The police initially told him they would inquire into his allegation, after which a case would be registered. Fearing that Valera might escape, however, Patil approached a court in Nashik. On Thursday (March 17), the court directed the Gangapur police to register an FIR. A case was then registered against Valera, Vaibhav Gehlot, and others who are affiliated with the company, and into whose accounts money was transferred. What have the police done so far? The 14 persons have been booked under Sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. Police are currently scrutinising the documents submitted by the complainant. "We are trying to identify whether they are genuine or forged," an investigator said. Senior Police Inspector Riyaz Shaikh of Gangapur police station said, "The case was registered on Thursday on the directions of Nashik court. So, currently we are checking the documents submitted by the complainant and we shall soon summon each one of them for questioning." Newsletter | Click to get the day's best explainers in your inbox
