Caretaker gets retd IIT-B prof admitted to old age home, takes over his 4 flats in Powai

A retired Indian Institute of Technology - Bombay (IIT-B) professor became the victim of an elaborate fraud carried out by his woman caretaker (36) who, taking advantage of his losing eyesight, got four flats owned by him in Powai transferred in her name by obtaining his signatures on gift deeds

MUMBAI: An 82-year-old retired Indian Institute of Technology - Bombay (IIT-B) professor became the victim of an elaborate fraud carried out by his woman caretaker (36) who, taking advantage of his losing eyesight, got four flats owned by him in Powai transferred in her name by obtaining his signatures on gift deeds. The flats are together worth at least ₹4 crore. The Powai police have detained the woman, who also stole jewellery worth ₹2 crore from the victim’s bank locker and withdrew ₹1. 3 crore from his bank account in the past three years as he had entrusted his ATM card to her.

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But, what was more shocking to the police was that the woman had admitted the victim to an old age home, emboldened by the fact that his children hardly visit him. The victim, Manmohan Agarwal (82), an electrical engineer, retired as a professor at IIT-Bombay and had been living in the Glen Height building in Hiranandani Gardens, Powai, since 2005. His son, a doctor, lives in Pimpri in Pune along with the retired professor’s wife, while his daughter also lives in Powai.

Agarwal met the con woman named Nikita Naik in 2017. After she learnt that Agarwal lived alone, she gained his trust and started working as his personal caretaker. Along with taking care of his personal needs, she used to do chores for him like going to the ATM and bank to withdraw money and paying utility bills.

In February 2025, Naik got Agarwal admitted in Town Will Care, an old age home in Vikhroli, said an officer from Powai police station. He added that in April, she took Agarwal out of the old age home on the pretext of a medical examination and got a gift deed executed, whereby all four of his flats were transferred in her name. On May 6, she opened a bank locker in her name and deposited ₹5 lakh cash, jewellery and the flats’ documents.

The fraud came to light in June, when the son came to Mumbai to meet his father after hearing that he was in an old age home. Soon after, a complaint was filed in his father’s name and based on it, the Powai police station registered a case against Nikita Naik under sections 306 (theft committed by a clerk or servant of property in the possession of their master or employer), 316 (4) (criminal breach of trust by a clerk or servant), 318 (4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing a person to deliver property to another) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

According to the police, Naik managed to defraud Agarwal of a total of ₹6 crore in the past eight years, between 2017 and 2025. “We are interrogating her for more details,” said the officer from Powai police station.