In a significant development, the Ludhiana police have registered a case against three Japanese nationals and two other individuals for allegedly defrauding a city-based agricultural equipment manufacturing firm. The accused are charged with failing to return machinery valued at Rs 61.60 lakh, which was taken for field trials approximately two years ago.
Details of the Case
According to the First Information Report (FIR) lodged at the Dehlon police station, the accused are representatives of Maruyama Mfg India Private Limited, a subsidiary of a Japan-based company specializing in agricultural machinery. The company has its local office in Gurgaon. The charges against them include Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
Identification of the Accused
The suspects have been identified as Munenori Ohta, the managing director of the Japanese firm; Takayuki Saito, the deputy director; Toshio Kondo, a company functionary; and two managers, Harmeet Singh and Ritwique Das.
Complainant's Allegations
The complainant, Jagjit Singh, who owns Ludhiana-based Jagatsukh Industries Private Limited, a manufacturer of agricultural and garden sprayers and implements, alleged that the officials of the Japanese firm had approached his company with a proposal to establish a business partnership aimed at agricultural advancement in Punjab and Haryana.
Singh stated, “As the representatives of the Japanese firm wanted to test our high-value boom spray machines in the field, we, in good faith, provided them machinery along with office space in our manufacturing facility. In 2023, the machines were delivered to them with prior conditions that the same had to be returned after trials. However, around three years have passed, and the firm has failed to return the machines, instead using them for their own tasks.”
Response from the Accused
Efforts were made to contact Munenori Ohta, the managing director of the Japanese firm, for their version of events, but no response was received.
