Ringing Bells Manager, Makers Of Freedom 251, Arrested For Fraud, Criminal Conspiracy

The Ghaziabad police have arrested a senior executive of smartphone company Ringing Bells, famous for its Freedom  251 handsets, on Monday after another firm filed a complaint of fraud.

The accussed has been identified as Sumit Kumar, who is said to be the general manager of the company, reported Hindustan Times.

Ringing Bell former MD Mohit Goel was earlier detained by the police for questioning after owner of Ghaziabad-based Ayam Enterprises filed an FIR on February 22 alleged that Ringing Bells "defrauded" it of Rs 16 lakh.

The Noida-based firm, set up in 2015 by Amity University graduate Mohit Kumar Goel, launched the Freedom 251 at a high-profile function last year, attended by BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi. It landed in a controversy, however, with some alleging it was like ponzi scheme. The firm had claimed that around 30,000 customers had booked the phone despite some glitch and seven crore people registered for it.

In the FIR, Ayam Enterprises has claimed it was persuaded by Goel and others from Ringing Bells to take up the distributorship of the Freedom 251 phones in November 2014. Apart from Goel, the FIR names the present managing director and Mohit’s brother, Anmol Goel, Mohit’s wife Dharna Garg who resigned eight months back as CEO of Ringing Bells, company general manager Sumit Kumar, and Mohit’s partner Ashok Chaddha.