Mohit Goel, the director of Ringing Bells, the company which had announced the world’s cheapest phone Freedom 251, was detained in Ghaziabad on allegations of fraud, PTI reported on Thursday. The phone was priced at Rs 251. Ghaziabad-based company Ayam Enterprises had filed an FIR alleging that Ringing Bells had duped it of Rs 16 lakh.
In November 2015, Noida-based Ringing Bells had promised to sell the smartphones at Rs 251 apiece. The sales had started in February last year. Hundreds of thousands of people had pre-ordered the phone, but so far, it has failed to deliver the smartphones to most of those who ordered them.
In the FIR, Ayam Enterprises alleged Goel persuaded them to take up the distributorship of the Freedom 251 smartphones. The company claims that they had paid Rs 30 lakh to Ringing Bells but that they had received products worth only 14 lakh. The company claimed that Ringing Bells had threatened the lives of their employees if they continued to ask for the rest of the money.
Although it was highly anticipated because of its affordable pricing, the launch of the Rs-251 smartphone came with an array of questions about matters ranging from its manufacturer to the feasibility of its cost.
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