Did an Army Sepoy Really Get 3 Years in Jail for Cheating a Woman Out of Rs 1.5 Lakh?
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New Delhi, Dec 16 (NationPress) A CBI court in Assam has convicted and sentenced Vijay Kumar Gupta, a Sepoy (MT) affiliated with an Army Service Corps battalion, to three years in prison for corruption and deceit. The ruling was made after the court found him guilty of exploiting his official role to defraud a civilian, according to an official statement released on Tuesday.
The judgment was rendered on Monday, December 15, and the court also imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 on the convict.
The investigation began when the Central Bureau of Investigation registered a case on May 15, 2019, following a complaint from a serving Brigadier.
According to the prosecution's case, Gupta served as Sepoy (MT) with the 556 Army Service Corps Battalion stationed in Siger, Mebo, Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh from 2011 to 2018, during which time he conspired with unidentified individuals.
The court was informed that Gupta deceived a woman out of Rs 1.50 lakh by falsely assuring her that he could secure a government job for her son, misusing his service credentials to gain her trust.
Upon the conclusion of the inquiry, the CBI submitted a chargesheet on December 31, 2019, naming Gupta and a co-defendant, S K Pandey, a Naik.
The trial court framed charges on March 31, 2022, and examined witnesses and documentary evidence throughout the trial.
After deliberating on the final arguments, the court acquitted Pandey, providing him the benefit of doubt, while confirming Gupta's guilt regarding the charges established beyond a reasonable doubt.
Consequently, the court sentenced Gupta to three years’ imprisonment.
In an unrelated case, a CBI court in Ahmedabad recently convicted and sentenced four private individuals to three years of rigorous imprisonment each, alongside a fine of Rs 50,000 per person, for their involvement in a bank fraud case linked to Bank of Baroda.
The convicted individuals, identified as Manojbhai B. Tanti, Pareshbhai M. Tanti, Poorva Pareshbhai Tanti, and Lilavanti M. Tanti, are partners at M/s P.M. Marketing in Ahmedabad.
This sentencing was issued on Friday, December 12.
The CBI investigation revealed that the accused concealed the fact that M/s P.M. Marketing had already availed a cash credit facility from the State Bank of India when applying for a facility from Bank of Baroda.
By hiding this crucial information, the accused caused a wrongful loss of Rs 3.48 crore to Bank of Baroda while unjustly enriching themselves, as per the CBI.