Hyderabad Businessman Faces Police Case Over Alleged Rs 2 Crore Fraud Against Adani's ACC Cement
A Hyderabad-based businessman finds himself embroiled in a serious police investigation following allegations of orchestrating a sophisticated fraud involving a forged bank guarantee. The Adani group's prominent cement arm, ACC Limited, has filed a formal complaint, asserting it was deliberately cheated of a substantial sum amounting to nearly Rs 2 crore.
Police Register Case as Accused Disappears
The Panjagutta police have taken cognizance of the matter, officially registering a case under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating), read with 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. Authorities are actively searching for the accused, who has reportedly vanished and is no longer reachable at known addresses.
According to the detailed complaint lodged by Chennabasava Bhuma, the Regional Sales Manager of ACC, the alleged fraud was perpetrated by Jaya Prakash Inanparthy, proprietor of JP Infra and Engineering, along with his associate, P Manmohan. The duo is accused of duping the company of a precise amount of Rs 1.96 crore.
How the Alleged Fraud Unfolded
The sequence of events, as outlined in the complaint, reveals a calculated scheme:
- In February 2022, the accused approached ACC's Hyderabad regional office, seeking cement supplies for multiple infrastructure projects.
- As per the mutual agreement, JP Infra was required to furnish a bank guarantee of Rs 2 crore prior to the dispatch of any cement materials.
- The accused subsequently submitted a document presented as a bank guarantee, purportedly issued by the Mandra branch of Punjab National Bank (PNB) located in Hooghly district, West Bengal.
- Relying on the apparent authenticity of this document, ACC proceeded to supply cement against seven distinct purchase orders during the period of 2022-23, with the total value exceeding Rs 2 crore.
The Discovery of Forgery and Failed Recovery Attempts
The fraudulent nature of the transaction came to light when ACC, having received only a partial payment of Rs 5.6 lakh, attempted to recover the outstanding dues. The company, acting in good faith, approached the bank to encash the submitted guarantee.
In a decisive email dated March 31, 2023, Punjab National Bank categorically informed ACC officials that the said bank guarantee was never issued by their institution. This revelation confirmed the document was a forgery.
Confronted with this evidence, a representative of the accused, identified as Kishor, submitted an apology letter on April 5, 2023. In this letter, he explicitly admitted that the bank guarantee was indeed forged.
"Kishor attempted to shift the blame solely onto Manmohan and undertook to make a part payment of Rs 85 lakh by April 8, 2023, with the balance to be cleared by April 25. However, no further payments materialised," the complainant alleged in the FIR.
Police Investigation and Current Status
Following the failed recovery attempts and the accused becoming incommunicado, ACC representatives escalated the matter to the police. A senior police official involved in the case stated:
"The complainant firm's representatives believe that the accused deliberately cheated them. They are currently not operating from their known addresses. We have been provided with different addresses linked to the accused company, along with their PAN and GST registration details. Our teams are in the process of locating the accused persons."
The case highlights the risks associated with financial documentation in large-scale business transactions and underscores the legal repercussions of forgery and breach of trust in corporate dealings.
