Four govt employees cheat builder of ₹55 lakh

Two Mantralaya employees, a policeman from state intelligence department (SID), and an employee from a tehsildar office were booked for allegedly cheating a Mulund-based

Two Mantralaya employees, a policeman from state intelligence department (SID), and an employee from a tehsildar office were booked for allegedly cheating a Mulund-based builder of ₹55 lakh.

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Vinod Bhanushali, 39, lodged a case against the four claiming they forced him to pay the amount for a plot in Borivli.

Bhanushali has accused Rajesh Jadhav, who works in SID, Sanjay Sonawane from the tehsildar’s office in Mumbai, and Saikumar Gavankar and Eknath Jadhav, both of whom are employed at the Mantralaya, of cheating.

The builder alleged that the four men along with another man told him about the plot due for allotment by the state government to a cooperative housing society. The men allegedly asked him to pay ₹1.3 crore to become a society member and construct a building.

Bhanushali paid ₹40 lakh in December 2014. He gave a cheque to Jadhav, who allegedly told him to make the payment in his name as the account of the society was not yet opened. In February 2016, he paid Jadhav and Gavankar another ₹15 lakh.

The builder claimed that the accused were delaying talks of the plot after which he enquired in Borivli and found the land is not allotted to the society mentioned. “We have sent summons to all four of them to join the investigation. A case has been registered and we are inquiring into it,” said Satish Nikam, senior inspector at APMC police station.