Shilpa Shetty, hubby, and 3 others booked in cheating case

The Kongaon police in Bhiwandi have registered a case of cheating against five directors of Best Deal Television Private Limited, including actor Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra, for allegedly cheating a Goregaon-based businessman to the tune of Rs 24 lakh. In his complaint, the businessman alleged that the company failed to pay him money for products he sold to them.

According to the police, Ravi Bhalotia, 59, a resident of Goregaon, has a manufacturing unit of bedsheets at MIDC in Bhiwandi. He allegedly sold bedsheets to Best Deal Television Private Limited, for sale through a home shopping channel, from July 2015 to August 2016. The complainant stated that despite repeated notices sent to the company, they failed to give him a proper response and defaulted on payments.

Five persons have been named as accused in the FIR registered in the case — Raj Kundra alias Ripu Sudan Kundra, Shilpa Shetty, Darshit Shah, Uday Kothari and Vedant Bali.

"The complainant has stated that these five persons cheated him by purchasing bedsheets to sell them on television, but did not pay the money for the products. The complainant tried to reach the company officials, but they failed to solve the issue", said Sukhada Narkar, Spokesperson for Thane police department.

Police Inspector Vijay Deshmukh, investigation officer in the case, said, "We have registered a case under section 420(cheating), 406(breach of trust) and 34(common intent) of the Indian Penal Code."