Arrest of Fugitive in Uttar Pradesh Rice Purchase Fraud Case After 10 Years

Fugitive Arrested in Rice Fraud Case

On Thursday, the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of the Uttar Pradesh Police apprehended a fugitive accused in a rice purchase fraud case after a decade. The joint team of EOW and local police captured Suresh Sharma near Saket Court Mall in Delhi.

Sharma, a resident of Alipur Khalsa village in Bulandshahr district, had been evading arrest since a fraud case was registered against him at the Kotwali Dehat police station in 2015. He faces multiple charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using forged documents), and 120B (criminal conspiracy).

According to a statement from the EOW, this case is linked to a scam where the accused impersonated representatives of a firm named SANS & Company, using forged documents to fraudulently purchase rice worth over ₹2.94 crores from the Uttar Pradesh government, which was later sold using fake invoices.

The statement further revealed that another firm, Balaji Trading Company, owned by co-accused Mahesh Chand Sharma, allegedly purchased rice worth ₹2.16 crores from the grain market in Bulandshahr.

The EOW noted that while Suresh Sharma is not officially listed as a director of the firm, he is accused of manipulating documents to misrepresent government-authorized purchases.

The investigation also uncovered that Sharma, along with co-accused Veer Karan Awasthi and Hrithik Awasthi, created fake authorization letters to persuade farmers to sell their produce through them.