E-Paper
Absconding for 2 yrs, police nab Pune builder who duped flat buyers of ₹4.14 crore
The housing project is incomplete till date and complainants allege that loans sanctioned based on their applications was disbursed to the builder
Police arrested a builder and his two accomplices for allegedly duping at least 34 flat buyers and collecting a total amount of ₹4.14 crore in the name of providing them flats at “The Village Residency” housing society at Neregaon in Mulshi.
The accused are identified as Pratik Omprakash Agarwal of Baner and his accomplices Kiran Kumbharkar and Vinay Borikar of Hinjewadi. The anti-gunda squad of the Pimpri-Chinchwad police has been on the lookout of Agrawal since 2020.
“Agarwal was running a construction firm and signed sale deed with 34 people and collected ₹4.14 crore. A case was registered at Hinjewadi police station and Agarwal has been on the run since then,” said Harish Mane, police inspector at anti-gunda squad.
Mane said that on a tip-off that Agarwal is seen in Ranchi and based on technical inputs, Agarwal was arrested from Nagpur with the help of railway police when he was traveling from Hatiya to Pune on Wednesday.
According to the police, the complainant Manmidarsingh Tirthsingh Anand (55) from Aundh alleged that Agarwal and his accomplices had promised flats in their proposed housing project in Neregaon. At the time of booking the flats in 2016, the investors were promised full possession in two years. After multiple delays, the company refused to give flat possession and Agarwal went absconding. When Anand contacted other investors, they shared the same experience and decided to lodge a police complaint against Agarwal.
Police said that Agarwal failed to surrender before the police when the court rejected his anticipatory bail, and has been on the run since last two years. The housing project is incomplete till date and complainants allege that loans sanctioned based on their applications was disbursed to the builder.
A case has been registered at Hinjewadi police station under Sections 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonestly) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 3 of The Maharashtra Ownership Flats. (regulation of the promotion of construction, sale, management and transfer) Act, 1963. The court has granted five-day police custody to Agarwal, said police.
