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Thane cops arrest three men in cheating case

The Rabodi police arrested three for running a financial racket. They would call up victims and inform them they had won lotteries, or promise gifts, and make money of them, the police said.

Updated on: Mar 5, 2012, 01:36:55 IST
Hindustan Times | By , Thane
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The Rabodi police arrested three for running a financial racket. They would call up victims and inform them they had won lotteries, or promise gifts, and make money of them, the police said.

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HT Image

The police have arrested Rakesh Mistry, 25, Milind Machkar, 30 and Javed Shaikh, 30 in the case. Dhananjay Bhange, the senior police inspector of Rabodi said, "The three accused started a fake company, Star Consultancy, in Vartak Nagar and opened an account in the company's name in ICICI bank in Gokulnagar, Thane (W). They would call people and tell them they have won a lottery or a cash prize. Those interested in collecting the prize would have to deposit a particular amount in their bank account. When clients deposited money, they would withdraw it and close the account. They had ten such account under different names. They also provided false PAN cards and identity cards."

The matter came to light when the bank manager Himanshu Purohit, also the complainant in the case, found certain discrepancies in the transactions. "The bank has a special team to keep a check on lottery rackets. Since January, the bank noticed ten accounts suspected of running a financial racket and started sealing them. During the same period, Mistry came to clear a check of Rs45,000 from one of the ten accounts and came under the bank's radar. They informed us and we kept a close watch on Mistry and his associates for almost a month and laid a trap for them," he added.

The police suspect that there are more people running this racket and crores of rupees have being laundered in the case. "We haven't yet received complaints from a person cheated by the gang. We appeal to the people to register a complaint if they have been cheated by the racket."

  • Megha Pol
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Megha Pol

    I am a special correspondent with Hindustan Times and also the chief of bureau for Thane. I have worked in Thane for over a decade, covering social, civic, infrastructural, political and cultural issues.Read More

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