Nowhera Shaikh walks out of Hyderabad jail, lands in Mumbai police custody

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police arrested the Heera group founder in a Rs 500-crore Heera Gold investment fraud case.

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Hours after she walked out of a Hyderabad prison, Nowhera Shaikh, the managing director of Heera group, was arrested again on Friday, this time by Mumbai police who were waiting for her release.

On Wednesday, Nowhera was granted bail by the Metropolitan Sessions Bench against a deposit of Rs 5 crore and the court had also placed travel restrictions on her. She was released from the Chanchalguda central prison in Hyderabad on Friday, where the Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) was waiting for her.

The Heera group founder has now been arrested in a Rs 500 crore Heera Gold investment fraud case. The police produced her before a special court in Mumbai on Friday and the court remanded her to police custody till November 3.

The Mumbai police arrested Nowhera based on an FIR filed on October 23 by a Mumbai resident, Shane Illahi Shaikh, who had made an investment of Rs 6 lakh in Heera Gold. Shane, the complainant from Mumbai, was expecting a return of 2.8 to 3.2 per cent on investments and received the returns for a few months. However, the payments stopped from June.

The Mumbai police estimate that out of the estimated 2 lakh people who invested in Heera Gold, over 10,000 investors could be in Mumbai alone, as per a report in the Times of India. The Telangana police were unable to pinpoint the exact number of investors in the companies owned by Heera as the company representatives were non-cooperative with the investigation.

The Mumbai police have filed cases against Nowhera and officials of Heera Gold Exim Ltd, Heera Retail Pvt Ltd, Heera Textiles and Heera Foodex in Mumbai. Based on the complaint lodged in Mumbai the EOW also raided the group's offices in Bhendi Bazar area of south Mumbai and in Mira Road.

Nowhera was first arrested on October 16 in Delhi by the Central Crime Station (CCS) division of the Telangana police based on an FIR filed with the Banjara Hills police station for cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal intimidation.

She runs 15 companies in India which have operations across the Middle East as well. She is also the party president of All India Mahila Empowerment Party, which contested Assembly elections in Karnataka.