(Image source from: dailyhunt.in)

A Non-Resident Indian has been detained and jailed for seven years after he was booked in a cheating case on a Bandra event management firm’s complaint.

The 41-year-old Sheru Aangrish from New Jersey was detained at Delhi airport earlier this week on the basis of a Lookout Circular (LoC). Immigration officials handed him over to Bandra police.

Claiming innocence, Aangrish told the police that the cheating case is mendacious and he gave the firm Rs 76 lakh for their services.

However, the firm’s statement was different. In 2013, one of its partners, Ankur Gosain, filed a lawsuit against Aangrish over non-payment of Rs 68 lakh out of Rs 1.44 crore, the amount for which the agreement was signed for Aangrish's bodybuilding show at Mehboob Studio, Bandra, in 2011.

Aangrish met Gosain and his partner in September 2011 to talk about the show. Gosain's events firm arranged the stage, lighting, etc, for the show.

In his complaint, Gosain said, "Aangrish paid Rs 50 lakh advance on September 23, 2011, after the full rate was quoted. Two days later, the show was held at Mehboob Studio. He kept giving excuses and kept delaying making the balance payment."

Refuting Gosain's claim, Aangrish told the police, "I paid Rs 50 lakh and later Rs 26 lakh to the company. The extra sum they quoted in the complaint was for services like bringing to the show two celebrities. Despite repeatedly telling them that I was not interested in increasing my budget by almost Rs 80 lakh, they were insistent, on the grounds that the show would get a good response. However, on the day of the show, they failed to bring the two celebrities. Despite that, they sent me a bill including the charges for the celebrities who they had failed to bring."

Aangrish also told the police that Gosain and his partner told him they would delete the amount from the bill. "I was unaware about the case and I never went into hiding. I was organizing such shows around the world," Aangrish said in his statement.

Bandra police senior inspector Girish Anavkar said Aangrish, who likewise is a bodybuilder, was supposed to fly to Bengaluru from Delhi to organize a show.

Aangrish has been booked for breach of trust and cheating.

-Sowmya Sangam