Mumbai Police arrests Kamala Mills owner Ramesh Gowani in fraud case

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police arrested Ramesh Gowani, the owner of Kamala Mills, on Tuesday in connection with a ₹67.50 crore fraud case. Ramesh Gowani owns the Kamala Mills area in Mumbai, which houses many corporate offices and has become an icon in the bustling city. Gowani's client base includes several people from Bollywood and top business brands.

The complainant, Surjit Singh Arora (62), owned a plot in the Khardanda area in Mumbai, where Ramesh Gowani wanted to build a structure. In 2013, Gowani approached Arora with a development plan for the plot and agreed to pay him ₹67.50 crore in return.

The police stated that Gowani, who also serves as a director of a private land development company, allegedly purchased the project in Khardanda but failed to pay the consideration amount of ₹67.50 crore to the complainant.

Repeated demands for payment were ignored by Ramesh Gowani, prompting the complainant to approach the Mumbai Police's EOW and lodge a complaint.

Subsequently, a case was registered against Gowani under sections 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

Ramesh Gowani was summoned for questioning at the EOW office on Tuesday, where he was arrested for his alleged involvement in the cheating case, an official said.

A real estate giant in Maharashtra's Mumbai, Ramesh Gowani developed the La Papilo buiding in Mumbai, his first commercial real estate project.

Ramesh Gowani had earlier been arrested in 2018 in connection with a deadly fire incident at two pubs which claimed 14 lives in December 2017.

Gowani had been arrested on the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under the IPC. Earlier, police had pressed charges under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act against him when the FIR was lodged.

The two pubs at Kamala Mills compound, Mojo's Bistro and 1 Above, were engulfed in fire on December 29, 2017.

(With agency inputs)