Mumbai Police lodge FIR against the Bhojpuri actress Akanksha Awasthi and her husband Vivek Kumar (also known as Abhishek Kumar Singh Chauhan) under fraud charge of ₹11.5 crore.
Interest-Free Loan The Appeal Of It
The investigation was initiated by a complaint lodged against Hitesh Kantilal Ajmera, a 52-year-old businessman in the customs clearance business and also a Ghatkopar resident. According to the complaint, Ajmera was connected with the couple through a middleman named Shantilal Patel. He allegedly talked Ajmera into taking a potentially lucrative, but peculiar offer:
The Claim
Vivek Kumar said he had earned around ₹300 crore in the past couple of years. Hurdle: He said the cash was stored in a warehouse located in Champaran district, Bihar, which he could not access because he owed ₹11.5 crore in outstanding rent to the warehouse owner. The Bait: Ajmera would receive an interest-free loan from the couple of ₹200 crore in exchange for rent assistance, per the documents, for several years.
The Disappearing Act
Having trusted the couple after the two supposedly presented official “warehouse agreements,” Ajmera deposited ₹11.5 crore entirely into Vivek Kumar’s bank account over three separate installments. Then Ajmera went to Bihar with the aid of Shantilal Patel to seal the deal. Apparently Vivek Kumar (and his men) had vanished a moment before they arrived in town; they went off their mobile phones and all links were no longer maintained.
Seeing that he was duped, Ajmera ventured to the Pant Nagar Police Station in Mumbai. Police Action and FIR. Police, based on the allegation, booked Akanksha Awasthi, Vivek Kumar and others, in accordance with provisions therein, for:
- Section 418(4): Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.
- Section 406(2): Criminal breach of trust.
- Section 34(5): Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention.
Effects on Bhojpuri industry
Akanksha Awasthi, a hugely popular Bhojpuri films industry star among actors with the likes of Pawan Singh and Khesari Lal Yadav. The investigation is just opening up, but the allegations have reverberated across an industry already grappling with scrutiny over the financial dealings of its leading figures. While authorities are investigating the bank accounts that received the money, they are also pursuing the absconding couple, the authorities said.
