A Delhi court on Saturday sent Sukesh Chandrashekhar, an alleged conman and an accused in 21 cases including the Election Commission bribery case, to 16 days of police custody in a Rs 200 crore cheating matter.
The Delhi Police recently invoked stringent provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against Sukesh Chandrashekhar and others.
Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh also sent co-accused Pradeep and Deepak to five-day police remand each.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police produced the accused before and sought their further custody, informing it that MCOCA has been invoked against Sukesh Chandrashekhar.
The EOW recently registered an FIR against Chandrasekhar for allegedly duping the spouses of former promoters of Ranbaxy, Shivinder Singh, and Malvinder Singh, of Rs 200 crore besides ongoing investigations against him in several cases across the country.
During the arguments, the court expressed displeasure with Delhi Police for invocation of MCOCA and said, police cannot do so without proof of the accused working as members of an organised crime syndicate.
According to the prosecution, the EOW has extended its investigation into the case related to extortion of over Rs 200 crore, by Rohini jail inmate Chandrasekar for allegedly duping the wives of former Religare promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, who are currently in Tihar jail.
At least two separate FIRs have been registered in the case so far and 23 deputy superintendents have been transferred on August 17, police said.
Shivinder's wife Aditi Singh and Malvinder's wife Japna Singh claimed that they paid crores of rupees to the conman, who posed as an officer from the Union law ministry, to secure bail for their husbands and ensure their safety, the prosecution claimed.
"I was assured that the central government would be interested to work with my husband after making him an 'industry advisor' on Covid-related committees; he asked me to contribute to the 'party fund' and assured to set up a meeting either with the former law minister or home minister," Aditi Singh alleged in her FIR.
Japna Singh, on the other hand, alleged that she paid a total of Rs 3.5 crore to Hong Kong-based account on July 28, 29, 30, and August 6, and has shared proof of the transactions, it said.
Thereafter, the police laid a trap and arrested his accomplices, Pradeep and Deepak.
Sukesh Chandrashekhar was lodged in Tihar jail after getting arrested in April 2017 from a hotel here in the EC bribery case.
It was alleged that he took money from AIADMK (Amma) leader T T V Dhinakaran to bribe EC officials in connection with the dispute over the AIADMK ''two leaves'' poll symbol.
Sukesh Chandrashekhar had allegedly struck a deal for Rs 50 crore to help the AIADMK (Amma) faction keep the ''two leaves'' symbol. An amount of Rs 1.3 crore was allegedly seized from his possession at the time of his arrest.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
