Gurugram court orders seizure of passports of Appu Ghar promoters

Gurugram: To make sure that the promoters of Appu Ghar do not leave the country, the Gurugram district court has ordered to seize the passport of the promoters.

The move came after the investors, who filed the petition against the promoters, have expressed their fear that these promoters might try to flee the country.

The district court has also directed the Gurugram police to expedite the process of arresting the promoters. The directive by the Gurugram court after the Punjab and Haryana High Court rejected the bail petition of the promoters Robin Vijeshwar, Monny Vijeshwar, and Gian Vijeshwar that was filed earlier this week.

Facing serious charges of the embezzlement of the funds of 1,000 of investors, the order from the judiciary has again paved the way for the arrest of the promoters in a case that has carried on from 2017.

It all began when a group of investors who had invested in Appu Ghar complained that they were not getting the desired returns as promised by the owners.

The huge losses incurred in the amusement park in Gurugram and lack of communication by the top management led to a series of protests against the owners.

Angry over their hard-earned money being swindled away from 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. 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. 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. 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.