The Ringing Bells smartphone Freedom 251 was claimed to be the cheapest smartphone in the world.
The Director of Ringing Bells, the company which promised a smartphone, the Freedom 251, as the name suggests for an unbelievable price of Rs 251, has been detained by police on charges of fraud.
Mohit Goel was detained for interrogation said the Ghaziabad Police today after a First information Report was registered on the complaint by one its distributers Ayam Enterprises which alleged it was duped of Rs 16 lakh.
"We paid Rs 30 lakh to Ringing Bells through RTGS on different occasions. But it delivered us product worth Rs 13 lakh only. Upon follow-up, we could get products plus money totaling Rs 14 lakh," Ayam Enterprises claimed in the FIR.
Its owners also Ringing Bells had threatened them with life if they asked for the money 'again and again'.
Touted as the cheapest smartphone in the world, Ringing Bells had begun the sale of the Freedom 251 in February last year. Around 30,000 customers had paid the cost and pre-ordered the phone online and seven crore had registered for it. In September, it began selling the phone along with several other models and accessories through Amazon India.
Till December last year, the company had claimed to have delivered 70,000 units in New Delhi, West Bengal, Haryana, Himachal, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Since its announcement of the Freedom 251, Ringing Bells has faced inquiries by police and tax officials. It was recently summoned to court over a case of a bounced cheque of Rs 2 lakh.
(With inputs from PTI)