Lucknow, April 11 (IANS): The owner of an entertainment company here has lodged an FIR saying that he has been duped of Rs one crore by a group who promised to make a film based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The victim Hemant Kumar Rai lodged a case in the PGI police station area of the state capital on Wednesday.

Those named in the case include Sanjay Singh of Hazratganj, Sikander Khan and Shabbir Qureshi, both of Ahmedabad.

In his complaint, Rai said he runs a company engaged in shooting songs to be posted on YouTube.

In September 2023, Sanjay Singh introduced Hemant Kumar Rai to Sikander and Qureshi at a hotel in Mumbai. Singh told Rai that they had obtained NOCs from all departments and had to secure an NOC from the PMO.

“Only 10 days of shooting are left for the completion of the film. The film production needed Rs one crore,” Singh told Rai.

He asked Rai to invest the money. “I was promised a profit of 25 per cent. I gave the money in instalments and through RTGS in Qureshi’s bank account and we also signed a contract on which the dealing with profit sharing was mentioned,” he said.

Rai said Singh and the others did not work further and the film production was halted.

“In January 2024, they signed a contract promising to refund my Rs one crore if they failed to secure an NOC from the PMO. Qureshi gave me postdated cheques worth Rs 20 lakh (two cheques) and Rs 30 lakh (two cheques). However, the cheques were dishonoured when I deposited them for encashment,” Rai alleged.

“Sanjay had defrauded me of crores of rupees in the past in the name of a model and would threaten to frame me in cases on demanding the money. They also use blackmail tactics,” he alleged.

SHO PGI, B.C. Tiwari said that an FIR under the charges of IPC 420 (cheating) has been registered and a probe is being conducted in the case.