Mumbai, Police have arrested two men who had been absconding for the last seven months in connection with an alleged ₹77 lakh fraud involving the sale of two flats in a Slum Rehabilitation Authority project in Mumbai, officials said.
A Malad resident and his sister complained to the police that they were cheated of ₹77.67 lakh on the promise of being sold two affordable flats in an SRA redevelopment project.
The woman's son had met one of the accused at a gym, and he allegedly introduced himself as an employee of a real estate development company, claiming he could arrange flats in an SRA project at discounted rates, a Karur police official said on Tuesday.
The fraudster later introduced the victims to the co-accused, claiming he had been allotted four flats in an SRA project at Kurar village in the Malad area and was willing to sell two of them. The accused also claimed to have strong contacts within the SRA and the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority , he said.
Believing their claims, the victims agreed to purchase two flats and paid a total of ₹77,67,534 in instalments. An agreement was executed at the SRA office in Bandra in February 2021, following which allotment letters for two flats were issued to them.
{{/usCountry}}Believing their claims, the victims agreed to purchase two flats and paid a total of ₹77,67,534 in instalments. An agreement was executed at the SRA office in Bandra in February 2021, following which allotment letters for two flats were issued to them.
{{/usCountry}}However, when the victims later visited the flats, they found both units occupied by other persons. Subsequent inquiries indicated the flats legally belonged to those occupants and that the accused had no ownership rights over the properties, the police said.
The accused allegedly misrepresented themselves as owners and executed the sale transaction using forged documents, they said.
Based on the victims' complaint, a case was registered against the accused on charges of cheating and forgery and a search was launched for them.
The two accused were apprehended earlier this week after being on the run for seven months. During questioning, they admitted that they had entered into the transaction with the intention of cheating the complainants, the official said.
The police were probing whether the accused were involved in similar property fraud cases targeting other homebuyers, the official added.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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