BMC contractor booked for duping SoBo woman of ₹2.55 crore

The accused – identified as Milind Jagannath Rane – told the complainant to buy machines for the project and promised her ₹4.4 lakh monthly rent for the same. However, the complainant – Mana Rasik Shah – neither received the promised rent nor any of the machines.

Mumbai: A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) contractor was booked for allegedly duping a businesswoman of ₹2.55 crore under the pretext of a civic contract for setting up a waste processing plant.

As per the complaint, in September 2020, Rane approached Shah with a proposal. He told Shah that his firm had bagged the contract for BMC’s project of setting up a waste processing plant and offered her monthly rent of ₹4.4 lakh, if she invested in the project to help him buy the required machines and equipment. Shah trusted Rane and decided to invest in his project. (Image for representation)

The accused – identified as Milind Jagannath Rane – told the complainant to buy machines for the project and promised her ₹4.4 lakh monthly rent for the same. However, the complainant – Mana Rasik Shah – neither received the promised rent nor any of the machines.

Shah, 51, is a director of Green Practices Private Limited and resides in Gamdevi.

As per the complaint, in September 2020, Rane approached Shah with a proposal. He told Shah that his firm had bagged the contract for BMC’s project of setting up a waste processing plant and offered her monthly rent of ₹4.4 lakh, if she invested in the project to help him buy the required machines and equipment. Shah trusted Rane and decided to invest in his project.

“However, the vendor only returned to Shah a truck worth ₹14.24 lakh bought with the invested funds. Later, Shah discovered that the vendors did not buy machines or equipment, instead, Rane allegedly took back the money from them and caused a wrongful loss worth nearly ₹2.55 crore to the complainant,” states the complaint.

The entire fraud, according to the complaint, took place between September 2020 and October 2022.

The police have registered a case under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.

“We have registered the case, and the investigation of the case is on. No arrest has been made yet. We are yet to ascertain if the accused had received the BMC contract, or if he lied. The probe will ascertain the facts,” said Manoj Hirlekar, senior inspector of the Sion police station.