NEW DELHI: Delhi Police have booked a cleric and his family members on the charges of cheating more than four dozen people of around Rs 40-50 crore in northeast Delhi on the pretext of investing their money in his scrap business.
The accused, identified as Zamil Akhtar, his wife Ashma, and two others were booked under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code at the Economic Offence Wing Police station.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) lodged on the complaint of one Riyazull Hasan Khan, and accessed by TNIE, accused Zamil Akhtar was in the scrap business for a long time and used to purchase the scrap material from the companies and sold the scrap to the wholesalers of different states.
The suspect Akhtar and his relatives, according to police, requested the complainant to invest the money in the said business following which Riyazull gave him Rs 9.5 lakh with the impression that he has invested his hard-earned money into Akhtar’s business.
Riyazull, in his complaint, stated that the Akhtar had worked for the Muslim community after northeast Delhi communal clashes and he also represented himself as the General Secretary of the North East District of reputed Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, which made him not doubt his intentions.
“Zamil Akthar and his associates used to influence their victims to sell their properties, take a loan from the bank, and invest with them as he would give them a better profit. Due to this reasons, the innocent people of the local area gave their valuable funds to the accused people,” the FIR read.
It was also alleged that the accused purchased several properties in their name from the cheated funds. The police after receiving similar complaints from Riyazull and 43 other people have registered an FIR against the alleged people and began the probe.
‘Invest for better return’
Suspect Zamil Akthar and his associates, according to police, used to influence their victims to sell their properties, take a loan from the bank and invest in his scrap business for better returns. To gain trust, at times he used to introduce himself as a well wisher of their community or a senior official of a religious body, which made people believe in him.