Jalandhar: Business partner accused of fraud of Rs 38 lakh

Jalandhar: In a case of alleged fraud, retired election tehsildar of Hoshiarpur, Karnail Singh, has accused his former business partner Hardeep Kumar, a resident of Abadpura in Jalandhar, of cheating him of Rs 38 lakh. Singh claims that Kumar fled to Canada after selling the entire stock of their pharmaceutical business in November last year. The FIR was registered only a few days ago on July 16 following Singh’s complaint to the commissionerate police (CP) last November, highlighting the sluggish response of the police. Their business Maple Pharmaceutical was set up in October 2020. Singh invested 75 per cent of the capital, that is, Rs 38 lakh, while Kumar, a seasoned pharmaceutical professional, contributed the remaining amount. Singh claims that after jointly running the business for three years, Kumar sold the entire stock worth Rs 40 lakh and fled to Canada. Singh, describing his relationship with Kumar, said he first met him in 2015-16 while working as a tehsildar in Jalandhar. Kumar used to provide him medicines at a discount. “This professional relationship turned into a personal one, which led to a business proposal in 2020. Kumar suggested that when I retire, I buy a local pharmaceutical company whose owner was going abroad. The deal was finalised for Rs 44 lakh, of which I contributed Rs 33 lakh through bank transfer and an additional Rs 5.56 lakh to set up the office,” he said. He said the licence was obtained in Kumar’s name but a legal agreement documented their joint participation, including a joint bank account with him to sign. “After my brother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer, my focus shifted to family matters in 2023. Kumar took advantage of my busy schedule, liquidated our stock and fled with the proceeds,” he said. Meanwhile, SHO of Division Number 6, Sahil Chaudhary, said that the complaint was lodged with a CP officer and after thorough investigation and necessary formalities, the case was forwarded to him for registering an FIR.