Dehradun: Nainital chief judicial magistrate court has sentenced two brothers to seven years in jail for defrauding a woman by promising to sell her property and later circulating her private pictures on social media and using abusive language against her in 2019. Court also sentenced their four accomplices to three years in jail.
According to the prosecution, brothers Saurabh and Gaurav Gupta entered into a contract with the woman to sell her a house for Rs 40 lakh, for which they received payment of Rs 35 lakh, but failed to execute the sale deed. When the woman demanded her money back, the brothers gave her six cheques of Rs 5 lakh each, which bounced. She then filed a case against them.
Upon learning that a case was registered against them, the brothers threatened the woman with death and circulated her personal pictures online in an objectionable manner.
The prosecution stated that the Guptas, along with Shatrughan Pandey, threatened the woman with leaking her private pictures and abused her to force her to withdraw the case. Another accused, Lalit Mohan Pandey, created a WhatsApp group and added her friend, Sandeep Kuksal, to it.
Kuksal testified that Leeladhar Kandpal, Mukesh Chandra Bhatt, Saurabh, and Shatrughan made obscene comments against the woman in that WhatsApp group. The prosecution presented the chat records as evidence in court.
After reviewing the facts and evidence, and hearing the arguments, the court concluded that the Gupta brothers had no intention of selling the house to the woman from the beginning and only wanted to swindle her.
The court found the Gupta brothers guilty under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (intentional insult to a woman). Accused Lalit Mohan, Leeladhar and Mukesh Chandra were found guilty under IPC Section 509, and Shatrughan was found guilty under Section 509 of IPC and sections 66 and 67 of the Information Technology Act.
The court sentenced the Gupta brothers to seven years of imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 85,000 on them. Shatrughan was sentenced to three years in jail and fined Rs 1.6 lakh. Lalit, Leeladhar and Mukesh were sentenced to three years in jail and fined Rs 10,000 each.
A journalist based in Dehradun, Uttarakhand with over 18 years of...
Read MoreA journalist based in Dehradun, Uttarakhand with over 18 years of experience. Currently working as Principal Correspondent in TOI. I cover archaeology, industry and judiciary (High Court, NGT, Consumer Commission and tribunals).
Read Less
Start a Conversation
Post comment