MUMBAI: The DB Marg police have registered an offence against the directors of Kolkata based Chitrakoot Art Gallery, for allegedly cheating a Cumballa Hill-based painting and art gallery owner to the tune of ₹22.20 lakhs by selling him two fake sculptures, claiming that those were artworks of renowned Bengali artists, Mulul Dey and Mina Dey.
According to the police, the Kolkata-based gallery directors, identified as Prakash Kejriwal and his son Prabhas Kejriwal, sold two sculptures to the Mumbai gallery owner, Shailesh Sheth, and even gave certificates of the artworks and their history, claiming that these were done by prominent artists, Mukul Dey, Mina Dey and their grandson, Shivashri Ukil.
However, when Sheth placed the sculptures for sale through his E-Art gallery, he found out that the artworks were fake.
“We have registered a case against Prakash Kejriwal and his son Prabhas Kejriwal, both of whom are directors of Chitrakoot Art Gallery in Kolkata,” said a police officer. The case is registered under sections 420 (cheating), 465 (punishments for forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 34 (common intentions) of the Indian Penal Code.
According to the police, the complaint was lodged by Shailesh Seth, who runs E-Gallery, a viewing gallery at Peddar Road in South Mumbai. According to Seth, in May 2022, he got a call from Kejriwal who introduced himself as director of the Kolkata-based art gallery and told him that he had several paintings and sculptures of prominent artists and sent him some photos of the same via e-mail.
“As Seth liked some sculptures, he spoke to Kejriwal and travelled to Kolkata where he was shown some antique sculpture by Prakash and his son Prabhas. He was also shown some proof about their history and certificates declaring that those were artworks of famous artist Mukul Dey, Mina Dey, and their grandson, Shivashri Ukil. He was told the certificates were original. As the names of Deys are well known in the art world, the complainant didn’t doubt anything and decided to purchase one sculpture,” said the police officer.
Later the complainant again went and brought one more sculpture and paid a total ₹22.20 lakhs for two sculptures. “When he decided to sell the sculptures in July, he learnt they were duplicate. He contacted Kejriwal but didn’t get any response. When the complainant sent a legal notice to them, he was told they had not done any cheating and was warned of legal actions if he continued to threaten them,” said the police officer.
The complainant then approached the D B Marg police, and a case was registered for providing duplicate sculptures and making fake documents of the same against the two, said the police officer.
HT contacted Prakash Kejriwal of the Chitrakoot Art Gallery in Kolkata, but he refused to give any comment.
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