UP couple charged with fraud to be extradited from UK, EOW of UP Police gets nod for extradition
The Uttar Pradesh Police Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has got the nod for the extradition of a businessman couple from the UK in connection with multiple cases of fraud against them in Delhi and UP.
This is the first time that a state agency, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Uttar Pradesh Police has secured extradition permission. Earlier, the EOW of the UP police got a red notice issued by Interpol and had the offenders arrested abroad.
Superintendent of Police, EOW, Swapnil Mamgain, said, “The couple had allegedly pulled off Rs.1.76 crore export fraud in Bulandshahr district. They also conned banks and farmers out of another Rs.800 crore.”
The duo had allegedly duped farmers on the pretext of wheat and paddy purchase. A London Court allowed the couple’s extradition after much persuasion by the EOW.
The couple was arrested in London in October 2019 and the Interpol had issued a red notice against them.
The EOW moved the Westminster Court for the deportation of Vir Karan Awasthi, 51, and Reetika Awasthi, 49, who were residents of Saket Nagar, Delhi.
Mamgain said a company in Bulandshahr registered the case against Bush Foods Overseas Pvt. Ltd, owned by the Awasthis, on September 11, 2015, and the state government handed over the investigations to EOW in March 2016.
According to the complaint lodged by the victim Lokendra Singh, owner of Saurabh & Co., Bush Foods purchased from his firm Rs.1.76 crore worth of paddy for export but never paid any money.
The FIR charged the Awasthi couple with cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery of valuable security, and criminal intimidation.
“During investigations, we also found that the (export) fraud is only the tip of the iceberg. The (total) fraud is worth over Rs.800 crore. In January 2016, the Supreme Court allowed the couple to visit London for the treatment of Vir Karan Awasthi on a personal surety of Rs.86 lakh and they did not return since then,” Mamgain said.
He said the couple managed to get a conditional stay on the arrest from the Allahabad High Court on November 11, 2015, on the condition that they deposit their passports and not leave the country. “In January 2016, the Supreme Court allowed the couple to visit London for the treatment of Vir Karan Awasthy on a personal surety of Rs.86 lakh and they did not return since then,” he explained. “The court issued stern directives for the extradition of the couple when they did not return,” added the SP.
[With Inputs from IANS]
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