KOCHI: Police have registered a case against two representatives of a Bengaluru-based medical equipment supply firm for allegedly cheating a business person in Kochi. The Palarivattom police booked Aadil Farooq and Sheikh Muneer -- promoters of A-Divas Craft which supplies PRP Tubes used for separating platelets from blood -- based on a complaint filed by C Nandakumar, who is into medical equipment business.
“The accused cheated the complainant by promising to sell medical equipment at a profitable margin. They collected Rs 2.71 lakh from the complainant. Later, PRP tubes that are about to be expired were sent to the complainant. However, the complainant returned the balance stock of PRP tubes worth `2.35 lakh. Despite returning the balance stock, the accused did not return the amount. When the accused questioned this, they threatened him,” says the FIR.
Nandakumar said he was approached by the accused persons promising to provide modern equipment that will have good demand from medical laboratories. “PRP Tube is a piece of equipment with modern technology. The plan was to procure these tubes and supply them to medical laboratories in the state.
Though tubes were supplied, the accused persons did not share the technical know-how about using them despite several requests. By the time, a majority of the stock was returned after it was nearing the expiry date. After this, the Kashmir native duo did not return the money and started speaking rudely whenever demand for it was placed,” Nandakumar said.
Nandakumar said he is collecting information about the firm and accused persons to take further legal steps against them. “We don’t know whether the company is supplying such equipment in other parts of Kerala. We suspect it is a major fraud and a detailed police probe is required,” he said.
The case has been registered under IPC section 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and criminal intimidation. According to police officers at the Palarivattom station, the statements of the accused have to be recorded. We have launched a probe into the incident. Based on the statements of the suspects, we will decide on the further steps to be taken as part of the probe,” a police officer said.