Man signs discarded cheque book from scrap to dupe SoBo traders

MUMBAI: The police on Sunday arrested a 56-year-old scrap dealer for allegedly cheating several traders and shopkeepers from south Mumbai by placing bulk orders and paying through cheques from a chequebook that was lost by its original owners

MUMBAI: The police on Sunday arrested a 56-year-old scrap dealer for allegedly cheating several traders and shopkeepers from south Mumbai by placing bulk orders and paying through cheques from a chequebook that was lost by its original owners.

Man signs discarded cheque book from scrap to dupe SoBo traders

The accused, Bharat Nimavat, is a resident of Shivai Nagar in Thane West. He earns a living as a scrap dealer and a real estate broker. Police said Nimavat visited south Mumbai whenever he found discarded cheque books in scrap. The complainant, Viraj Jain, 26, owns a marble shop in the Gol Deval area in Bhuleshwar. According to the complaint, on June 13, the accused posed as a trustee of a private trust looking to buy 31 heaters for the trust’s newly constructed rooms. He purchased Racold heaters, which cost ₹1.27 lakh, and signed two cheques for it. On the delivery day, the accused insisted on collecting the heaters from the street instead of providing a location.

“When the complainant deposited the cheques in the bank, they bounced. So, he approached the VP Road police,” said a police officer. The police registered a case under sections 319 (cheating by personation) and 318 (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

Under the supervision of deputy commissioner of police Mohit Garg and senior police inspector Jagdish Kulkarni, assistant police inspector Vishal Gaikwad began investigating the complaint. The police traced the cheque to its owner, a Satara-based businessman, who had his bank block it as he had lost the chequebook. “We learnt that the accused had called the complainant on the phone, but when the police traced the person in whose name the mobile number was registered, it turns out he purchased the SIM card by registering it by a different name,” said a police officer.

After studying the call details record (CDR), the police reached Thane’s Shivai Nagar where they used CCTV footage of the accused to identify Nimavat. “We picked him up. Initially, he denied having anything to do with the episode, but later confessed to the crime,” said the officer.

The police said Nimavat has similarly cheated a dry fruits trader by taking hundreds of kilograms of cashews and almonds from him and by paying through cheques. He had several cheating cases registered against him in Thane, Vakola and Panvel police stations, the officer added.