Owners of trading firm in Thane booked for cheating chemical supplier of Rs 18.08 cr

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The Thane police has registered a case against a couple owning a trading firm for allegedly cheating a chemical supplier to the tune of Rs 18.08 crore, officials said on Wednesday.

The victim's firm supplied chemicals to the accused's company between January and June 2020, but they allegedly failed to make the payment, an official from Naupada police station in Maharashtra's Thane city said quoting the complaint.

Later, the accused issued a cheque which was dishonoured by the bank, the complaint stated.

When the victim threatened to lodge a complaint with the GST department, the accused assured to make the payment soon, but later they allegedly became untraceable, the FIR said.

As per the complaint, the victim was allegedly duped of Rs 18,08,45,931, the police said.

Based on the complaint, the police on Monday registered an FIR against the accused, Jaiprakash Yadav and Kusum Yadav, under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 34 (act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), the official said.

No arrest has been made so far, the police added.

Meanwhile, police has registered a case against four persons after a 17-year-old girl in Thane district alleged that they raped, molested and threatened her, an official said on Wednesday.

According to the girl, she lost both her parents last year, following which she initially stayed with her grandparents and later she and her younger brother were lodged at an orphanage, the official from Mira Road police station said quoting the FIR.

Earlier this year, the family of the accused, who knew the girl's kin, took charge of her and her brother, it said.

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Over the past two months, the accused allegedly molested and raped the girl repeatedly and when she resisted their move, they threatened to send her back to the orphanage, as per the FIR.

The family of the accused also allegedly forced the girl and her brother to convert to Muslim religion. They were allegedly taken to a dargah in Uttan where some rituals were performed by a 'moulavi' and they were given meat to consume, it stated.

Fed up of the frequent harassment, the girl lodged a complaint with local police, the official said.

The police registered the case on August 10 against four persons under Indian Penal Code sections 376, 376(2) (n) (rape), 298 (uttering, words, etc, with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings of any person), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 506 (criminal intimidation), 34 (common intention) and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The accused have been identified as Shain Rais Khan, Abuhid Khan, Nukshat Khan and Nikhat Merchant, according to the FIR.

No arrest has been made so far, the police said, adding a probe is on into the case. (Agencies)