Three held for posing as I-T officials, duping dairy owner of ₹20 lakh

To gain the confidence of the complainant, the accused took him to various five-star hotels and high-end restaurants in Mumbai and also travelled in high-end cars like Mercedes Benz, Toyota Fortuner and Hyundai Creta

Mumbai: The police have arrested three persons for allegedly duping a Pune-based dairy owner to the tune of ₹20 lakh by posing as Income Tax (I-T) officers.

Three held for posing as I-T officials, duping dairy owner of ₹20 lakh

The arrested were identified as Devaram Hivrale, 35, Ravikant Hivrale, 36 and Yogesh Hivrale, 32. All school dropouts and residents of Buldhana.

According to the police officials, the accused had promised to give ₹40 lakh, which they claimed was seized by the I-T department, to the complainant.

To gain the confidence of the complainant, the accused took him to various five-star hotels and high-end restaurants in Mumbai and also travelled in high-end cars like Mercedes Benz, Toyota Fortuner and Hyundai Creta.

The police had received a complaint from one Ramdas Ballal alleging that the accused had cheated him of ₹20 lakh.

“The trio had posed as I-Tax officers and told the complainant that they had around ₹40 lakh seized cash with them. They can’t use the cash as the serial numbers of the currency notes were mentioned in the I-T record, but somebody outside the department can use the cash. They asked the complainant to pay ₹20 lakh in exchange of ₹40 lakh. As Ballal was in need of money to expand his business he readily agreed,” said Deepak Chavan, senior police inspector, Matunga police station.

The complainant borrowed the said amount from his relatives and paid the accused. The accused handed over a bag, which they claimed contained ₹40 lakh, to Ballal. When the dairy owner opened the bag, he found fake currency notes with ‘Bhartiya Baccho Ka Bank’ printed on it.

“When Ballal realised that he was cheated, the accused had fled from the spot. Later, he filed a complaint,” said Chavan.

“The prime accused, Devaram, has several cheating cases registered against him,” said Prashant Kamble, assistant police inspector, Matunga police station.