Gurugram police on Friday arrested Dhruv Dutt Sharma, the chief govt of the agency behind the thirty second Avenue business actual property mission, based mostly on a grievance of dishonest filed by an organization over the sale of a property throughout the high-profile advanced.
The 34-year-old, a resident of DLF Camellias in Sector 42 on Golf Course Highway, was arrested by the Financial Offences Wing (EOW) of the Gurugram Police on Friday and produced earlier than a neighborhood courtroom, which remanded him to 6 days of police custody.
In a primary data report (FIR) filed on January 2, Traum Ventures Pvt Ltd mentioned Sharma and associates entered into an settlement on the market for a 3,000-square-foot business unit within the first ground thirty second Avenue constructing in September 2021 for ₹2.5 crore. The corporate alleged it had paid the quantity to Sharma but it surely by no means obtained possession of the property.
The FIR, of which PR has accessed a replica, was filed beneath Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 120-B (felony conspiracy) and 420 (dishonest and dishonestly inducing supply of property).
“Nonetheless, throughout our investigation, it has emerged that the possession rights of the identical property had been transferred to at the least 25 different buyers between 2022 and 2023,” mentioned assistant commissioner of police (Financial Offences Wing) Vishal Kumar.
He added that Sharma later entered into agreements with these buyers to lease all the 3,000 sq ft area again in his personal identify.
Police mentioned Sharma is the proprietor of a number of corporations, together with thirty second Vistas Pvt Ltd and Development Hospitality LLP, and runs different firms together with his dad and mom and family members listed as co-directors. The FIR additionally names ASP Merchandise, Apra Motels and Apra Cars, in addition to a few of his family members.
Deputy commissioner of police (West) Karan Goel mentioned the case wherein Sharma was arrested is one among at the least 5 FIRs registered towards him and his corporations on the Civil Traces police station previously month.
“The complaints pertain to investments made in business properties positioned throughout the thirty second Avenue advanced, the place a number of eating places function, in addition to two different business buildings on the identical plot,” Goel mentioned. He added that Traum Ventures is amongst 55 buyers who’ve approached the police alleging fraud.
Whereas complaints from at the least 55 buyers have been formally recorded up to now, police investigation means that the variety of buyers who could have been impacted could possibly be within the lots of, Goel mentioned, including that the probe is ongoing and extra FIRs could possibly be registered based mostly on extra complaints.
Police mentioned they’ve additionally despatched an intimation to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to analyze if cash laundering was concerned.
A senior EOW official, who spoke on situation of anonymity, mentioned preliminary findings recommend that investor funds could have been routed throughout Sharma’s a number of corporations. “It seems that cash collected from buyers was transferred from one firm to a different,” the official mentioned.
The official added that investigators have discovered indications that the funds had been allegedly used to buy plots and lodge properties in Goa and Rajasthan.
In response to the FIR and statements recorded in the course of the investigation, Sharma’s corporations initially paid rental returns to buyers for just a few months, citing pre-existing lease agreements, earlier than stopping funds altogether.
A number of buyers advised police that once they visited the positioning, they found that the items allotted to them had been both shared with a number of consumers or consisted of small parts reminiscent of balconies, with the remaining space allotted to different buyers.
Over the previous a number of days, buyers and workers related to thirty second Avenue have been staging protests, alleging non-payment of dues and claiming that Sharma had stopped responding to calls and messages.
Sharma’s agency didn’t reply to requests for remark until the time of going to print.
