Two booked for duping 64-year-old of ₹1.45 crore

After a preliminary inquiry, the Oshiwara police on Friday registered a case under sections 406, 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Maharashtra Ownership of Flats Act.

Mumbai: Two partners of a construction firm were booked for allegedly duping a senior citizen of ₹1.45 crore. The accused – identified as Iqbal Hafeezi and Siddiqui Hafeezi – accepted money from the complainant under the pretext of selling him a penthouse in a new project in Jogeshwari West.

The accused – identified as Iqbal Hafeezi and Siddiqui Hafeezi – accepted money from the complainant under the pretext of selling him a penthouse in a new project in Jogeshwari West. However, the complainant – Shakeel Iliyas Shaikh – discovered that the duo had sold the same penthouse to some other person. (Image for representation)

However, the complainant – Shakeel Iliyas Shaikh – discovered that the duo had sold the same penthouse to some other person.

As per the police, Shakeel, 64, had in November last year filed the police complaint against two partners of High Tech Hafeezi Town Developers. After a preliminary inquiry, the Oshiwara police on Friday registered a case under sections 406, 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Maharashtra Ownership of Flats Act.

The accused had accepted money from the complainant since 2009, initially offering two flats bearing numbers 1605 and 1606 in their proposed project – Kahdija High Tech Tower – in Behrambaug Road area in Jogeshwari West, states the complaint.

“Instead of the flats, later the accused offered to sell a 1,926-square-feet penthouse on the 22nd floor in the same tower to the complainant and accepted a total of ₹1.45 crore from him towards consideration for the same,” states the FIR. “However, the accused never gave possession of the penthouse to the complainant and instead sold it to a third person.”

Police inspector Raghunath Kadam of the Oshiwara police station made a preliminary inquiry into the matter and put up a file before the deputy commissioner of police of Zone 9. The DCP after reviewing the inquiry findings directed the officer to register an FIR and investigate it.

Since the complainant had gone to Dubai for business purposes, he has given the power of attorney to his stepson Sohail Shaikh to further proceed with the matter with the police. On Sohail’s statement, the police on Friday booked the two developers for cheating and further probing the matter.