Four booked for duping cop of ₹13L by promising him a house

Mumbai: A police inspector with the Meghwadi police station has filed an FIR against four persons who allegedly took ₹13 lakh from him with the promise of a flat in a reputed project but tried to sell him a house in a MHADA building instead

Mumbai: A police inspector with the Meghwadi police station has filed an FIR against four persons who allegedly took ₹13 lakh from him with the promise of a flat in a reputed project but tried to sell him a house in a MHADA building instead.

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According to the Vakola police, the complaint was registered on Saturday after the victims, police inspector Vaibhav Mali and his wife Shital approached them. The accused in the FIR have been identified as Naval Rathi, his wife Chhaya, his first wife Shabnam Sheikh and his nephew Shubham.

“The complainants have said in their statement that they were introduced to Naval and Chhaya through a relative, after which they kept in touch. In 2021, the Malis had told the Rathis that they were looking to buy a house, and Naval promised to find a flat in a good project for them, claiming that he had good contacts in the real estate sector,” said an officer with the Vakola police.

The officer added that in November 2021, Naval allegedly told the Malis that one of his friends needed to raise money urgently and was willing to sell his flat in the northern suburbs for ₹45 lakh. He further claimed that an advance of ₹13 lakh would be needed immediately, the police said.

“Accordingly, the Malis put the amount together and gave it to the Rathis via cheque as well as cash. An additional ₹10,000, supposed to be processing charges, was paid into Sheikh’s account. However, when the time to ‘hand over’ the flat came, the Rathis took the Malis to a MHADA project in Vikhroli, which was in violation of all the promises they had made,” the officer said.

The Malis then asked for their money back, or at least a flat in a private project as per their requirements, and the Rathis allegedly said that they had spent the money and asked for some time.

When the Rathis failed to pay the Malis back for over a year despite repeated reminders, they approached the police on Saturday. “We have booked all the four accused for cheating and acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intentions under the Indian Penal Code and are investigating the matter further,” the officer said.