A guy was sentenced to 170 years in solitary confinement by a session court in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, for defrauding 34 people on the pretence of opening a clothing business. The sum at stake is 72 lakh.
The jail sentence is one of the heaviest in the nation; in March, a Sehore (also in Madhya Pradesh) court sentenced the director of a chit fund organisation to 250 years in prison; however, the case included 3.5 million victims and $4000 crore.
In addition to the jail sentence, the court mandated that Nasir Mohammad, also known as Nasir Rajput, 55, of Tapi, Gujarat, compensate each of his victims 10,000. Mohammad was found guilty of cheating under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which carries a seven-year maximum sentence.
Mohammad received a five-year term in this instance, but there was a catch.
Judge Abdullah Ahmed of the higher session court said in his decision that the defendant had defrauded 34 persons. Because the culpability of the act committed by the accused in relation to each victim differs, it is essential to punish each victim individually.
He will so serve a total of 170 years, or 34*5.
The police took action against Mohammad after a late-2019 complaint from residents of Bhainsa and Sadar village in the Sagar district, according to the district prosecution’s media coordinator Saurabh Dimha. The criminal, Dimha continued, became friendly with the community after relocating there in the latter part of 2018. His lifestyle was extravagant, and he claimed to be awaiting the settlement of a real estate transaction before making an investment in a clothing business. According to Mohammad, the transfer of 7.85 crore was halted by the Reserve Bank of India due to a tax problem. He also informed the villagers that his sons had clothing businesses in Dubai, Dubai, and Cambodia.
Locals eventually fell for the trap; several of them invested in his enterprise.
After being pushed by one of the investors to return the money, Mohammad fled. His relatives vanished as well. On December 19, 2020, he was taken into custody in Kulbarga, Karnataka.
Legal professionals believe that decision will be overturned at a higher court, nevertheless. “Concurrent punishment rather than successive punishment is the norm. If the offence was of a different character, the penalty may be consecutive, but in this instance, the top court would not uphold it, according to former MP attorney general Ravi Nandan Singh.
