MUMBAI: The police have informed the Bombay High Court that they will register a cheating case against Temjen Imna Along, a cabinet minister of Nagaland and the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), based on a complaint by Mumbai-based company Hazel Mercantile Limited.
The company had filed a petition in the High Court seeking a probe by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police into its complaint alleging that Along and others cheated it of Rs 125 crore by allegedly using forged and fabricated documents.
According to the company’s advocate, Vivek Kantawala, Along approached the company to invest in Nagaland. Subsequently, on April 21, 2015, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed, under which the company invested approximately Rs 125 crore.
However, the company alleged that after fulfilling all supply commitments and raising invoices, Along began avoiding contact with their representatives. The company lodged a complaint with the EOW on February 9, 2024, after allegedly receiving no response from the Nagaland Minister.
The EOW sent a letter to the Nagaland Lokayukta on June 24, 2024, seeking permission to prosecute Along. However, Kantawala argued that since Along was not a minister at the time of the alleged offence, there was no need for permission to prosecute him.
