Mumbai: 48-year-old held for forging pilot’s sign to grab his house

The accused had forged fake documents of the property that the complainant had purchased in 2019 worth ₹36 lakh.

DN Nagar police arrested a 48-year-old man for allegedly cheating an Air India pilot by forging his signature and taking over his bungalow in Andheri (West).

For representational purposes only. (HT FILE)

According to police, the complainant, Satyendra Devda, a resident of Four Bungalows area in Andheri (West), approached the police in October 2020 claiming that his childhood friend Rajan Vasudev Khandekar had made fake documents of the property that he had purchased in 2019 worth ₹36 lakh. In his complaint, Devda said Khandekar stayed in his building since their childhood and were friends. However, in 2014 he shifted from Four Bungalows to Amboli where he had been living on rent in a two-storey bungalow owned by Micheal Manterio. “Since I knew Khandekar as an estate agent, I used to meet him regularly as I was searching for a property to buy,” said Devda, who stays with his parents while his younger brother shifted to Japan.

In 2014, Khandekar had informed Devda that Manterio wanted to sell his house for ₹36 lakh. As Devda showed interest in buying the property, Khandekar arranged for a meeting between Devda and Manterio’s sister Lucy Sores, 55, who agreed to the purchase. A few days later, Devda gave her the token amount of ₹1.1 lakh in the presence of Khandekar and Sheetal Kotian. Over a period, Devda gave Sores ₹36 lakh and got the agreement of the house, which he handed over to Khandekar to transfer the electricity bill etc on his name since the latter was staying there on rent. “We had drafted an agreement that Khandekar would be staying in the house as a tenant,” said Devda in his statement to the police.

In 2019, after Khandekar stopped paying rent, Devda found out that the electricity bill was not on his name but in Kotian’s name. “That is when I found out that Khandekar had forged the documents of the purchase and made fake purchase copy on his name,” Devda.

When Devda realised that he had been cheated, he approached the police and a case was registered for forgery and cheating under sections 465, 467, 468, 471 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code.

“Based on the complaint, we arrested Khandekar and presented him before the court which remanded him in police custody,” said an officer from DN Nagar police station.

Upon investigation, the police found out that Khandekar had cheated many people using the same modus operandi. “We are now finding out how many people were cheated by Khandekar,” added the officer.