Despite lodging complaint, Ex Officers demand speedy inquiry in the case
Chandigarh: As many as nearly two dozen of War Veterans from Indian Army, the highly placed retired officers have alleged that their former batchmate at Officer Training School, Madras (now Officer Training Academy, Chennai) has indulged in a financial fraud amounting to more than Eight Crores rupees. While addressing a press conference at Chandigarh Press Club, the grieved party comprising of retired Army Officers from as far as from Bangluru led by Brigadier PM Ahluwalia said that Major Amarjit Singh Shahi (released from Indian Army), also a dismissed police officer from UP Police is now staying at Golden Enclave, Sector 49. The accused has misappropriated the investments of 22 defence personnel in Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
Major Pradeep Bhartiya and others have ruled that despite a complaint lodged in Economic Offence Wing (EOW), Chandigarh Police, Sector 17 earlier this year has not seriously dealt with which has left the war veterans in utmost patient mode.
The War Veterans alleged that Shahi misappropriated his colleagues funds loaned to him for investment by siphoning off money to buy two one kanal plots in Mohali (Aero City), and also transferring money to his son who is in the USA. He gave returns for 2-3 years, but from Aug 2022, he conveyed that his partner Laxmi Narayan Shukla had died in an accident in Kanpur, and that there was no money in the MOFSL account leaving all the investors in lurch.
Retired officers after eight months of negotiations and persuasion with Shahi, finally lodged complaints with Chandigarh Police, Economic Offences Wing in April and Jun 2023. They also met senior police officers to apprise them of the case and requested to expedite the enquiry. However, the progress was very tardy and in fact in October 2023, the IO who was dealing with the case was arrested while taking bribes. The case has not made any progress and it seems that the Chandigarh Police is deliberately going slow, maybe in view of the police background of Shahi, though he was disgracefully dismissed from Service. Despite overwhelmingly clear evidence of the fraud committed by Shahi as per the money-trail and his accounts, veterans umpteen requests to Police to finalise the investigation have not borne any result. Similar complaints have been lodged against him even in Kanpur by some investors.
While detailing about the criminal record of Shahi, Brigadier PM Ahluwalia said that he was dismissed from UP Police on the conviction by Kanpur Court on the charges of abduction and rape of a minor girl in Kanpur when he was posted a Circle Officer there. He was sentenced for 10 years in prison in 2014. After one year he got bail from the High Court, and shifted to Chandigarh. Here he re-established contacts with his ex Army colleagues and told them that he was running an investment firm ensuring handsome returns on investments.
These retired officers demanded that a FIR should be lodged against Shahi and expedite the process in a speedy manner to avoid further harassment.
