Mumbai: The police have booked a man named Pavan Sharma, owner of Radha Roadways, for allegedly cheating another company, a registered transporter for the railways that handle cargo and transport work.
The accused was given a sub-contract for transporting railway engines (locomotives) worth ₹5 crore from Mumbai to Kalka and back. Sharma is accused of failing to return the locomotives.
The crime
The complainant in the case, Anilkumar Gulabchand Gupta, is an employee of Shree JB Grains Dealer, a company associated with the railways since 2018. According to him, in April they got work from the railways to transport railway engines from Mumbai to Kalka and back. Shree JB Grains Dealer hired another contractor for this work, which is when Sharma enters the scene. The two made a contract to undertake the work and Gupta promised Sharma ₹4.25 lakh.
Gupta alleged that Sharma took the engines in a trailer, via road, to Haryana, and unloaded them there. But he never returned the locomotives back to the Parel shed in Mumbai, as promised. The engines were transported from Parel to be used on the Kalka-Shimla toy trains. Gupta further alleged that when contacted, Sharma said due to a delay in payment, he wanted ₹60,000 more. He threatened to keep the engines if the money was not paid.
According to a Central Railway spokesperson, CR did not know Sharma as its original contract was with Gupta and his company. After a probe, CR got to know that Gupta had hired Sharma as a sub-contractor.
Police probe underway
“We don’t have to deal with the sub-contractor since our contract is with Gupta and his company. Hence, we will ask them for compensation for the damage that they caused to the engines, and for not carrying out the work they were hired for,” the spokesperson said on Monday. An inquiry will soon be set up to investigate the matter, the official added.The Wadala TT police, where the first information report (FIR), is registered, have sent a team to Haryana to nab the accused. “The probe is underway,” said Dnyaneswar Argade, Senior Inspector.
In the FIR, sections including 420 (cheating) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code have been added against Sharma.
