Mumbai: Bandra police arrested a bodybuilder for defaulting on a payment and cheating an entertainment company to the tunes of 68.53 lakh. According to police, the accused, Sheru Angresh (41), had promised a payment of `1.44 crore to the entertainment company, Carving Dreams, in 2011, but paid only 75 lakh.
When the complainant demanded the due amount, Angresh kept delaying the payment and fled to the US. The complainant then approached police, who registered a case and issued a lookout notice against him. Angresh was arrested on February 21 after he arrived at Delhi airport from the US and was brought back to Mumbai on Saturday.
In 2011, Angresh had approached the complainant stating he is a bodybuilder and his company was going to organise a show at Mehboob Studios, for which they had called in 30 bodybuilders for a stage show. The victim was asked to provide the lighting arrangement for the show. He had quoted `1.44 crore for lighting assistance. Angresh paid 50 lakh in advance by cheque and contracted to pay the remaining dues after the event.
The event, which took place between September 23-25, 2011, was a hit. After the programme, whenever the complainant tried to contact Angresh for the dues of 94.53 lakh, he delayed the payment citing insufficient funds or claiming he was busy.
A few months after Angresh ignored the complainant’s calls, the victim emailed Angresh, after which he paid 25.65 lakh. Then, Angresh went to the US and never returned to India. After all attempts to recover `68.53 lakh went in vain, the victim approached Bandra police and lodged a complaint against Angresh.
When the complainant explained how Angresh had fled to the US, police shared his passport details with the airport authorities and asked them to alert in case of Angresh’s return. Accordingly, on February 21, Angresh landed at Delhi airport after flying from the US and was arrested.
The Delhi airport authorities alerted Bandra police about Angresh having come to Delhi and was brought back to Mumbai late on Saturday night. Angresh has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to cheating (section 420) and criminal breach of trust (section 406). The accused was produced in a local magistrate court on Sunday and was remanded in five-day police custody.
