Ggm court issues arrest warrant against promoters of Appu Ghar

Gurugram: The Gurugram district court has issued an arrest warrant against the promoters of International Recreation and Amusement Limited (IRAL), the company that runs Appu Ghar. The order has been issued by Chief Judicial Magistrate Narender Singh. The main promoters are Robin Vijeshwar, Monny Vijeshwar, and Gian Vijeshwar. The stern order comes after it was observed by the district court that the promoters were evading investigators. The promoters are facing charges of embezzlement of funds put in by over 1,000 investors in the company. The huge amount of money was collected to open the amusement park in one of the most prime and centrally located areas in Gurugram.

In 2014, Appu Ghar began functioning but could not gain high footfalls and began reporting losses which in turn resulted in the investors not getting the desired returns on the money that was put in by them. Angry over their hard-earned money being swindled away the investors alleged that the promoters in the garb of showing losses had used the money for other business ventures.

A series of protests were held by the investors against the promoters over their alleged corrupt dealings. "We all were lured to put in the money in the amusement park project that was coming up in Gurugram around 2011. It was promised that there will be a retail outlet, food court along with the amusement park that is going to be developed but all these were fake promises and nothing came up in the park," said Amit Chanana one of the investors.

The investors of International Recreation and Amusement Limited (IRAL) that Appu Ghar filed a petition at Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2018. Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the FIR to be filed against the promoters under Sections 420 (theft) and 406 (breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code. Earlier, the investors had approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) which suspended the board of directors of IARL which began the process of reviving the company by inviting other investors.

From the time Appu Ghar project has been conceptualised in Gurugram in 2011, the recreation park has run into several controversies which range from illegal use of groundwater to misappropriation of investor funds. The Appu Ghar developed its first amusement park in 1984 in New Delhi. After running it successfully for many years the park was closed down in 2014. At a time its operation in Delhi was undergoing a slowdown it began developing its second park in Gurugram that is spread around the area of 60 acres near to HUDA City Centre Metro station. The venture however, did not receive that much success resulting in huge losses for the investors.