High Court rejects bogus Bahubali co-producer’s bail plea in Rs 1 crore scam

Srinagar, July 27: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh declined to grant bail to a man from Tamil Nadu who allegedly duped an Army officer posted at Khanabal of nearly Rs 1 crore on “account of fake property deal” after allegedly hoodwinking him into believing that he was a “big businessman, financer, and co-producer of movie Bahubali and had access to Parliament and President’s House”.

A bench of Justice Rajnesh Oswal dismissed the bail plea of 34-year-old Nagraj V from Tamil Nadu as it noted that the allegations against him were serious.

The court held that Nagraj not only showed fake documents of the property not owned by him in Delhi but also duped the complainant (an Army officer) of Rs 1.06 crore.

The court rejected Nagrag’s bail plea with the observation that with the recovery of the sale deed on July 10 this year, the case investigation had reached a crucial stage.

The complainant registered an FIR No 77/2024 against Nagraj on April 26, 2024.

According to the Police, Rs 1.06 crore had been transferred into the account of Nagraj and his associates through the complainant on account of a fake property deal and during the investigation, offences under sections 420, 467, 468, 471 419, and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were established against Nagraj.

He was arrested on May 9, 2024, in Delhi and is currently in judicial custody.

The investigation indicated that Nagraj was continuously changing his address, as it was revealed from the photocopies of the documents seized from his possession that in AADHAR, passport, and his election identity card, he had mentioned different addresses.

After Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Anantnag, vide order dated June 12, 2024, dismissed his bail plea, Nagraj approached the High Court for a grant of bail by submitting that he was an entrepreneur, industrialist, besides a politician and had been meeting with various political leaders and dignitaries of the country.

While the court rejected Nagrag’s bail plea, it directed the SSP concerned to supervise and monitor the investigation to ensure a fair investigation.

Further, the court directed the Investigating Officer to conclude the investigation as expeditiously as possible.

The investigation has revealed that Nagraj was allegedly involved in financial scams in Tamil Nadu besides being accused of grabbing Rs 5 crore from a film producer, music director, and medical students in the name of medical seats and from others for clearing a project in which his father and sister were also involved.

According to the Police, Nagraj came into contact with the complainant (Army officer) in August 2023 and by posing himself as a big businessman, financer, and co-producer of the movie Bahubali, expressed his desire to invest in Kashmir.

He also asked the complainant if he was interested in buying a house in Delhi and could get him the same at reasonable rates.

On September 8, 2023, Nagraj requested him to transfer Rs 12 lakh to his father’s account as he was going to the President's house.

The complainant transferred Rs 11 lakh from his account and Rs 1 lakh from his wife’s account.

On September 12, 2023, Nagraj called the complainant to Delhi to discuss the property matter and the complainant went to his house in Defence Colony, New Delhi.

Nagraj showed the property papers of his house to him and claimed that he and his father were its owners, and they wanted to sell it.

As the complainant was looking for a property, so he agreed to buy it and asked him to prepare a written agreement.

According to the Police, Nagrai told the complainant that he would send the documents by post as those were in Chennai, but he never did so.

In October 2023, Nagraj called the complainant to Chennai, where he showed some an apartment where renovation work was going on and claimed it as his production house.

The complainant on asking Nagraj deposited Rs 32 lakh in the account of K Vishnu Sagar, Nagraj’s father, Rs 30 lakh in the account of Ranjeet Surya Ganesan (Nagraj’s friend in Chennai) and Rs 44 lakh in his account.

The sum of Rs 1.06 crore was paid by the complainant through his and his wife’s account.

When the suspicion was raised in the mind of the complainant, he enquired and came to know that the property did not belong to Nagraj, and he had shown him false papers about the property.

When the complainant asked him to return his money, he kept on delaying and finally issued cheques for Rs 1 crore and due to insufficient funds, the cheques bounced.