India, March 26 -- A local court has rejected the closure report filed by the Tardeo police into the case where a Mumbai-based art dealer and others had allegedly sold fake artworks to the India head of a US-based private equity firm, defrauding him of Rs.17.90 crore.

The complainant, Puneet Bhatia, had alleged in December 2023 that the accused persons had sold him fake paintings of renowned Indian artists such as Jamini Roy, MF Husain, among others, and had even provided fabricated certificates of authenticity and provenance for these works.

The court has directed the Tardeo police to further investigate the case, while allowing Bhatia's protest petition, which claimed that the police investigation was not satisfactory.

In its March 3...