Chatwal hotel case: Police chargesheet 7

The Kochi police have filed a chargesheet in the Ernakulam CJMs Court against seven persons in connection with a case registered against former employees and contractors of Dream Hotel,run by NRI hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal. Police commissioner Manoj Abraham said the chargesheet had been accepted and the case would now be heard on March 16.

Chatwal had alleged that his former managing director Ram Gupta colluded with the contractors of various works taken up at the hotel to cause him a loss of Rs 15 crore. Fintan Francis,the hotels finance manager had filed a complaint against the contractors on April 4,2009,a day before the hotel was inaugurated. The accused were taken into custody from the Dream Hotel,where they had stayed as guests of Chatwal.

Those arraigned as accused include Gupta,former hotel director Satyendra Khurana and contractors Ramesh Sharma,Jagadish Khandelwal and Dilip Bhandari. Another accused Nirmal Khandelwal had obtained a stay from the Kerala HC with regard to proceedings against him in the case registered on Chatwals complaint. Abraham said Khandelwals case would come up for hearing on March 2.