E-challan issued in Mangaluru helps Santacruz police nab cheating employee

A traffic e-challan for not wearing a seatbelt led to the arrest of Dinath Shetty, an absconding accused who cheated his employer in Mumbai.

MUMBAI: A traffic e-challan for not wearing a seatbelt in Mangaluru city helped the Santacruz police trace and arrest an absconding accused who had cheated his employer, a restaurant owner in Mumbai. The accused was arrested on Wednesday and produced before a city court on Friday.

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The complainant in the case is the owner of the chain of popular South Indian restaurants in Mumbai. The accused, Dinath Shetty, 31, a resident of Mira Road, was the operational manager at the restaurant. Shetty was entrusted with depositing the cash from the restaurant in a bank. He was also supposed to pay the rent, purchase groceries and other things required in the five branches of the establishment. However, his employer learnt he had cheated him to the tune of ₹1.23 crore between January 9, 2024, and May 1, 2024.

On September 9, 2024, the Santacruz police registered an FIR against Shetty. After this, Shetty switched off his mobile phone, halted all online bank transactions and social media activities, making it difficult to trace him.

The police obtained a report of all bank loans Shetty had taken. One of the eight banks he had borrowed money from had lent him a car loan. “We got the registration number of the car from the bank and went through fines imposed on the car owner,” said the officer. They found the car violating traffic rules, mostly for not wearing a seat belt in the passenger seat, in Mangaluru city. Over the next two days, the investigation team in Mangaluru kept a close watch on this car. Eventually, with the help of local police, they intercepted the accused and arrested him on Wednesday.

He was produced before the Mangaluru court for transit remand. “We produced the accused in a city court on Friday, where he was remanded to police custody for seven days,” said Yogesh Shinde, senior police inspector of Santacruz police station.