Rajasthan Congress MLA Faces Cheating Case, Alleges Conspiracy

Rajasthan Congress MLA Ved Prakash Solanki, who has been charged in a case of cheating for allegedly duping a woman of her land, on Tuesday termed the allegations against him "false" and said it was a conspiracy to portray him as a land mafia.

He said he had given cheques of Rs 30 lakh to the woman as payment for her land.

An FIR was registered against the Chaksu MLA, who is close to dissident Congress leader Sachin Pilot, at Bajaj Nagar police station here after Kaushalya Devi complained that her land was transferred in Solanki's name but he did not pay her.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Solanki said, "It is a conspiracy to portray me as a land mafia and malign my image. The allegations are false. I had given cheques of Rs 30 lakh (to the woman). It is not my fault if the cheques were not presented to the bank." "I will not be cowed down," the MLA said.

He said the matter should be probed thoroughly and if he is wrong, then he should be punished.

According to the complaint lodged by Devi, the matter dates back to July 2013 when she was looking to sell her land in Bhurtia Kala village here and was duped by middlemen who registered the land in the name of Solanki, Station House Officer, Bajaj Nagar, Devendra Kumar had said on Monday.

Based on the woman's complaint, an FIR was lodged against Solanki on Saturday under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, Kumar said.

The case file has been sent to the CID Crime Branch for further probe. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)