Fraudsters tried to dupe us saying they would sue Boeing: Family of AI 171 victim

Indian Express

3 days ago

The Udaipur police have lodged an FIR after some men allegedly tried to dupe and mislead the family members of Vardi Chand Menaria, who lost his life in the Air India flight AI 171 to London which crashed moments after taking off in Ahmedabad on June 12.
The men, allegedly posing as representatives of the central government and a Supreme Court lawyer, claimed that they would get the family Rs 8-10 crore compensation, and pressured them to sign certain documents.
While the incident is from July 18-19, the FIR was lodged on July 29 on the directions of the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA). It has been lodged under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 329 (3) for 'criminal trespass', which carries a maximum imprisonment of up to three months and a fine of Rs 5,000.
In his complaint, Menaria's son Deepak Menaria said that on the evening of July 17, he received a call from a person who identified himself as one Bhupendra, saying that he will come for verification on behalf of the central government.
'I was told that a team from Delhi and Mumbai will come to my house and 'secret verification' will be done, so for this, a copy of my late father's passport and ticket will be needed. They tried to lure me saying that if I file a case against Boeing, I will get Rs 8-10 crore,' he wrote in his complaint.
In a purported audio recording of the call, the man is heard telling Deepak to keep it a secret, because if he speaks about it to relatives, they may start seeking money too.
'On July 18, around 7:45 pm, a man and a woman reached my house in Rundeda in a Gujarat numbered vehicle. Both of them entered my house and started talking in a confusing manner to my mother. My mother called and told me that two people had come. I immediately reached home and found them sitting in my house, claiming to be from the Supreme Court,' he said.
'They pressured me and my mother to put my thumb impression and sign some documents. When I asked them the purpose, they spoke about a case against Boeing in America. When I told them that I will file a case, the duo unethically pressured me to give my thumb impression and signature on the documents,' he alleged, adding that after he did not yield, both of them left around 8:40 pm.
The next day, he sought assistance from the local police, but claimed that they weren't of much help. Later in the day, around 4:30 pm, the alleged fraudsters parked their vehicle a kilometre away from the Menaria residence and walked the rest of the distance.
As they repeated some of the things they had said the day before, Deepak called his neighbours for help. Subsequently, police from Vallabh Nagar police station reached his residence and took the men to the police station.
Deepak alleged that the Station House Officer of Vallabh Nagar police station did not lodge an FIR, saying that he should collect it from the SP's office since he had already lodged a complaint there.
He claimed an FIR was lodged only after he approached the DLSA. Udaipur Superintendent of Police Yogesh Goyal said that, 'An FIR has been lodged. As per the primary inquiry, some advocates and some locals wanted (the family) to become their client and file a case against the airline. They wanted to take their consent, as per the initial investigation. However, the family says that they were persisting on a regular basis.'