Amarnath Shroff and Raj K. Modi (Pronab Biswas)

Raj Modi, the promoter of Vedic Village, is in custody while Amarnath Shroff, his partner in Vedic Village II, is in the dock.

Tuesday saw Modi, the managing director of Vedic Realty, being sent to 10 days in jail custody and Amarnath Shroff, his ally in the proposed integrated IT township project on 1,600 acres, being tripped by a legal tangle over a land transfer deal.

Sumitra Roy, the chief judicial magistrate of Barasat Court, turned down the bail prayer of Modi’s lawyers, who cited his health condition and his track record in helping the cops in the investigation. The public prosecutor had not opposed the bail plea.

Modi, who arrived in court from New Town police station on Tuesday, was taken to Dum Dum Central jail after his bail plea was rejected.

At the other end of town, Shroff, slapped with criminal and civil cases by city-based MKJ Enterprises, got hit by a hammer blow of the law.

The high court ordered Shroff’s company, Diamond Group, to pay Rs 120 crore to Strand Properties within three weeks to save a lease deal following a petition from M.K. Jalan, the owner of MKJ Enterprises.

Shroff, a co-owner of Strand Properties, which has a building on a 104-cottah plot at 16 Strand Road, stands accused of fraudulently leasing out the property to his own company, Diamond Group, for 400 years against a payment of Rs 1 crore.

In its petition, MKJ Enterprises claimed that Strand Properties, bought in 2000 by a consortium of five developers, including Jalan and Shroff, to develop a property — was valued at Rs 350 crore.

“Our client (MKJ Enterprises) had a 20 per cent share in Strand Properties, but he was kept in the dark about the lease deed, which was executed fraudulently,” said Debanjan Mondal, the solicitor representing MKJ Enterprises.

“Besides, they could not give the property on lease as it was mortgaged to the Park Street branch of a nationalised bank,” he added.

Appearing in the court of Justice Nadira Patheriya, the lawyer for MKJ Enterprises alleged that Jalan was also not aware that Shroff had managed a loan of Rs 80 crore by mortgaging the property.

Justice Patheriya had earlier given an injunction to the lease deal and observed that MKJ Enterprises should have been kept posted about it. “Continuing the interim order, Justice Patheriya asked Shroff to pay Rs 120 crore to Strand Properties within three weeks,” said a counsel.

Despite repeated attempts till late on Tuesday, the realtor who had developed properties like Diamond City North in Jessore Road and Diamond City South in Tollygunge could not be contacted.