Cheating case against Praful Patel

Betul, Jun 30: Just months after Praful Patel squeezed himself out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) row, the civil aviation minister has now come under the scanner over an alleged illegal land sale.

A Madhya Pradesh court has registered a cheating case against the minister and and eight partners of his company over a land sale.

"Prima facie it appears that the accused had indulged in cheating and, therefore, cognisance against them is being taken under section 420 of the IPC," Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Siraj Ali said on Tuesday, Jun 29.

The JMFC's court ordered the NCP leader and his co-accused to before it on Jul 29.

The case was registered after the court received a complaint from someone called Navneet Garg, who alleged that Praful Patel's Chotta Bhai Jetha Bhai Patel and Company had sold 17,000 hectares of land in Betul about seven years ago.

According to the complaint, the land situated on National Highway 69 was first sold to one Ashok Dixit on Jun 11, 2003, eight days after which the land was sold to Garg on June 19, 2003.

The complainant said that he was forced to move the court as the police refused to file the complaint, in which Praful Patel, Arvind Bhai Patel, Harshad Patel, Dipak Patel, Kiran Patel, Shailesh Patel, Kaushal Patel, Ishwar Bhai Patel and Messr Chotta Bhai Jetha Bhai Patel are named.

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