Pramesh S Jain
The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Bengaluru City Police has registered a case based on a complaint alleging that an educational institution was cheated of Rs.14.5 crore in a fraudulent land deal.
The complaint was filed by Dr.Vanki Penchaliah, Chairman of AVES and Adi Shankar Group of Institutions,Sadashivanagar,Bengaluru.
According to the complaint,Aishwarya Vignan Educational Society (AVES),which runs educational institutions in Karnataka,Andhra Pradesh and other states,decided after the COVID-19 pandemic to expand its engineering education operations and acquire land for educational projects.
The complainant alleged that in January 2021,Sistla Viswanath Nagesh,through Prasun Ghosh,introduced four persons as prospective partners who claimed to have access to large parcels of land and properties in and around Bengaluru, Delhi,Hyderabad,Pune, Chikkabanavara,Jigani and Anekal.
The four individuals were identified in the complaint as Vivek Sangla and Ambika Sangla of Punjab,Prasun Ghosh of West Bengal,and Nilesh Ghosh of Maharashtra, the son of Prasun Ghosh.
The complainant alleged that the accused showed them several properties and represented that they were agreement holders or had rights over the properties.
They allegedly offered to facilitate the purchase and registration of the land in favour of AVES.
According to the complaint,the accused initially demanded Rs.25 crore as advance,claiming that the amount would be paid to the landowners and that the properties would subsequently be registered in the name of AVES.
Following negotiations,the advance amount was allegedly reduced to ₹14.50 crore,with an assurance that the sale deeds would be registered in favour of the complainant’s institution.
Trusting these representations,AVES allegedly transferred ₹14.50 crore through bank transactions from AVES and other related accounts, while part of the amount was allegedly paid in cash in Bengaluru.
The complainant has alleged that the accused had pre-planned the fraud, induced the institution to part with the money and subsequently failed to return the amount or complete the promised property registrations.
The complaint further alleges that the accused may have similarly cheated other persons and sought stringent legal action and recovery of the money.
Following approval from the Additional Commissioner of Police,Bengaluru City,Crimes,under office order dated August 25, 2026,the CCB registered the case and commenced a detailed investigation.
Police are expected to examine the financial transactions, property documents, agreements and the alleged involvement of all the persons named in the complaint.
