Bizman freed in hijacking case booked for cheating

Acquitted in 2023 for allegedly keeping a hijack threat note in Jet Airways, Birju Salla, is now accused of duping jeweller of ₹13 crore

- Vinay Dalvi

MUMBAI: A businessman, acquitted in a hijacking case two years ago, has been booked for allegedly defrauding a jeweller of gold, silver and diamonds valued at ₹12.77 crore.

Birju Salla, 45, was the first person to be convicted by a special NIA court in Ahmedabad under the Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016, for placing a chit with a threat written on it in the toilet of an aircraft on a domestic flight. His conviction was, however, set aside by the Gujarat High Court in August 2023.

After a little over a year, Salla decided to pursue his family jewellery business. So he took 5,947 grams of gold, 18,965 grams of silver and diamonds from a Zaveri Bazar-based jeweller, to sell them. There's a catch, though. Salla had not yet paid the jeweller for the gold, silver and diamonds, said an officer with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police.