A 34-year-old history sheeter was arrested on April 15 for allegedly cheating a Pune-based woman through a fake profile on a matrimonial website, where he claimed to be an ISRO scientist, Yerwada police said on Wednesday.
The accused, Adarsh Prashant Mhatre, a resident of Alibaug in Raigad district, has a police record of engaging in such swindling. He allegedly used multiple fake identities—’Swapnil Varule,’ ‘Hemant Gaykar,’ and ‘Jayesh Patil’—to target victims online.
Most of the time, the accused approached women for marriage claiming to be a ‘scientist’. He slowly gained their confidence by making false promises, including offering to cover family members’ educational expenses. His next step was to convince the victims to transfer money under various pretexts.
In the latest case, Mhatre swindled the complainant, an HR manager, out of ₹26.5 lakh by convincing her that the money would be invested in a real estate venture for her daughter’s future. The accused approached the complainant via a matrimonial site.
Based on her complaint, police registered a case on January 10, 2026, under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology (IT) Act.
{{/usCountry}}Based on her complaint, police registered a case on January 10, 2026, under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology (IT) Act.
{{/usCountry}}Chilumula Rajnikanth, deputy commissioner of police (Zone 4), said, “The accused is a frequent offender and was previously booked in similar cases at various police stations.”
According to senior police inspector of Yerwada police station, Anjum Baghvan, the accused used the fraudulently-obtained money to play in a casino. “He returned ₹5 lakh and our team recovered the remaining amount from the casino’s account,” she said.
Mhatre’s arrest and subsequent investigation led police to recover ₹21 lakh in fraud money from his bank accounts. Further investigation is ongoing, with the Yerwada police looking into a recent similar case against the accused that was registered at the Rabale police station in Navi Mumbai.