Rajkot: Senior journalist Jagdish Mehta is facing a second police complaint (FIR), following an earlier complaint related to extortion. The latest complaint was filed by a businessman from Panchayat Nagar at the DCB Crime Branch, alleging fraud and threats involving Rs 15 lakh.

The complainant, Gurnvataray Vrajlal Bhadani, who has been running Swastik Finance Corporation in partnership for over 25 years, alleged that on April 26, 2016, a trusted acquaintance, Maheshbhai Kiyada of Rajkot, introduced Jagdish Mehta, then a newspaper employee, to the complainant and his partner. Mehta allegedly requested Rs 15 lakh for a three-month contract project, promising repayment from profits,  as collateral, Mehta and his wife provided three signed cheques from their joint account at Bank of Maharashtra, Sadhu Vasvani branch, totaling Rs 15 lakh.

However, later despite repeated requests for repayment after three months, Mehta allegedly failed to return the money and continued making false promises over the years. He allegedly pressured the complainant to return the cheques, threatening that if refused, false news would be published in his newspaper, damaging the complainant’s business reputation.

The FIR also states that on March 12, 2025, Mehta, as group editor of Madhya Gujarat Headline, allegedly published a misleading article under the headline “Rajkot’s Top Two Finance Firms in Builders’ Lobby Chaos,” which indirectly referred to the complainant’s firm, tarnishing its reputation. The complainant claims that Mehta further threatened him with physical harm if he did not comply with demands to surrender the signed cheques.

The complainant stated that while he returned the vouchers signed by him, he retained the cheques to secure his legal claim to the Rs 15 lakh. He has accused Mehta of fraud, breach of trust, and criminal intimidation. The Rajkot DCB Crime Branch has registered the FIR under the relevant sections of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita and has begun investigating the matter. DeshGujarat

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પત્રકાર જગદીશ મેહતા પર ચૌથો કેસ નોંધાયો છે .. અને આ FIR બી સરકારે નહીં કરી આ FIR એમની વિરુદ્ધ નોંધાવી છે રાજકોટ ના ગુણવંત બાધાનીએ .. જેમણે વિગતો માં જણાવ્યું છે કે જગદીશ મેહતા એમની પાસે થી ૧૫ લાખ રૂપિયા ત્રણ મહિના માં પાછા આપવાની શરતે લીધા… https://t.co/U3x4cVDmYQ pic.twitter.com/mCKdnZrWzL

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