Mumbai: The police have informed the Bombay High Court that they will register a cheating case against Temjen Imna Along, a cabinet minister of Nagaland and the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), based on a complaint by Mumbai-based company Hazel Mercantile Limited.

The company had filed a petition in the High Court seeking a probe by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police into its complaint alleging that Along and others cheated it of Rs 125 crore by allegedly using forged and fabricated documents.

According to the company’s advocate, Vivek Kantawala, Along approached the company to invest in Nagaland. Subsequently, on April 21, 2015, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed, under which the company invested approximately Rs 125 crore. The MoU also included construction contracts and agreements for the supply of rice and sugar. At the time, Along was not a cabinet minister.

However, the company alleged that after fulfilling all supply commitments and raising invoices, Along began avoiding contact with their representatives. The company lodged a complaint with the EOW on February 9, 2024, after allegedly receiving no response from the Nagaland Minister.

The EOW sent a letter to the Nagaland Lokayukta on June 24, 2024, seeking permission to prosecute Along. However, Kantawala argued that since Along was not a minister at the time of the alleged offence, there was no need for permission to prosecute him. The Lokayukta subsequently replied, stating that the alleged transactions occurred before Along became a public functionary and thus were outside its jurisdiction, following which the EOW initiated a preliminary enquiry.

Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) and state’s advocate Kranti Hiwrale informed a bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Advait Sethna that the preliminary enquiry was complete and that they would be registering an FIR against the persons mentioned in the petitioner’s complaint. The police will also record the petitioner’s statement.

“In view of the statement made by the learned APP, on instructions from the police, nothing survives for further consideration in the petition. The petition stands disposed of. Needless to state, the police will investigate the case fairly and impartially and will take the same to its logical end,” the bench concluded.