Retired Tihar Jail Pharmacist Allegedly Duped of Rs 1.75 Cr, 1 Held
New Delhi: The Delhi Police has arrested a criminal wanted in a Rs 1.75 crore cheating and forgery case in which a retired Tihar Jail pharmacist was allegedly duped through the sale of six plots using fake documents, officials said on Thursday.
The accused, Vinod Kumar Bhardwaj – alias Rahul, alias Pappu – was carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 and had been declared a proclaimed offender by a Tis Hazari court, they said.
The case was registered at Ranhola police station on the complaint of Kailash Narayan, who retired as a senior pharmacist from Tihar Jail in 2024.
According to police, the accused knew about Narayan through a property dealer, Parveen, and, along with his wife, brother-in-law B S Bhardwaj, and other associates, allegedly lured the pharmacist into investing his retirement savings in property.
The accused allegedly convinced the retired pharmacist to purchase six plots and sold them to him on the basis of fake and fabricated documents, causing him a financial loss of around Rs 1.75 crore, police said.
After the case was registered, all the accused allegedly absconded. The court issued proclamations against them on May 12, following which a reward of Rs 50,000 was declared for their arrest, a senior police officer said.
Police received information about Vinod’s movements and developed intelligence through field sources and technical analysis, they said.
During the intervening night of September 13 and 14, the team received specific information that Vinod was in Sector 5, Dwarka. A trap was laid, and he was arrested from a residential society in the area, police said.
Vinod is a habitual offender and was previously involved in four other criminal cases, including three cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and one case under Section 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the IPC, registered at different police stations in Delhi, according to police.
The accused, who studied up to Class 5, works as a labourer and whitewasher, police said. He lives with his wife, two sons and a daughter.
Further investigation is underway to ascertain the role of his associates and trace the financial transactions and properties involved in the alleged fraud, police said.
