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UP villager accuses Bachchan of fraud, moves court

May 29, 2010 19:55 IST

A woman from Uttar Pradesh has sought a local court's intervention to file a criminal case of 'cheating and fraud' against actor Amitabh Bachchan in Barabanki district, nearly 35 km from Lucknow.

The complainant, Raj Kumari, is the gram pradhan (village head) of Daulatpur, where the actor had acquired five bigha of landĀ  to build a women's college named after his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai.

In an application moved before the court of the chief judicial magistrate, Barabanki, Raj Kumari has accused Bachchan of 'committing fraud' against the people of the village by not keeping his word about building the college.

She has further accused Bachchan of threatening her with dire consequences when she approached him to honour his commitment to the local population.

The court has fixed May 31 for hearing the case.

Earlier, Bachchan has faced charges of acquiring 2.5 bigha of agricultural land owned by the local gram sabha allotted in his name through 'fraudulent means'. Subsequently, he purchased three bigha of private land.

Together with his close friend Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, the actor had traveled all the way to Daulatpur village in 2006, along with his wife Jaya , sonĀ  Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya.

Amidst much fanfare, he had declared that he will build a women's college there and it will be named after Aishwarya.

However, the Bachchan family has not made any efforts to build the college so far, alleged Raj Kumari.

Sharat Pradhan In Lucknow