Subodh Kant Sahay 'named' in cheating FIR

Former Union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay has been named in an FIR filed by Delhi Police on the directions of Patiala House Court.

The case filed with Tughlak Road police station on Friday is of cheating and criminal conspiracy under Indian Penal Code.

Additional Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) S B S Tyagi, however, said there is no evidence against Sahay. “The name was used to cheat a person. The case has been filed over a court order and the matter is sub-judice,” Tyagi told Deccan Herald.

It is alleged that some people cheated a man named Purushottam Das Mittal in Haryana claiming that they were close associates of Sahay.

“On the assurances of the accused, the complainant had made a payment of Rs 5 lakh to buy a plot in Haryana’s Bhiwani district,” a source said. However, no plot was provided to Mittal despite the payment.

On realising that he had been cheated, Mittal informed police. He claimed no action was initiated by police due to which he approached Patiala House Court. Mittal runs a school for underprivileged children in Haryana.

Mittal alleged that in October 2011, he had met a man named Anil Sharma, who claimed to Sahay’s assistant private secretary. Through Anil, Mittal met several others, including a man named Sunil Joshi, who claimed to be Sahay’s personal assistant. “They claimed that they had strong links with Sahay and senior officials in the central government. Mittal was then assured that they would help him buy plot on cheap rate in Bhiwani,” the source added. Mittal paid Rs 5 lakh, but is yet to get any land.

Subodh, a Congress leader,  was the Union Tourism Minister from 2011 to October 2012 in the UPA government.