26-year-old used Shiv Sena leader’s name to scam Mumbai students, job aspirants

The accused used to target engineering and diploma aspirants by giving false assurances of getting them engineering or diploma certificates.

Suraj Ramesh Kalav alias Latikesh, 26, was arrested by Shivaji Park police for duping people by pretending that he was the personal assistant to Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackarey. He reportedly boasted of having good contacts with politicians and seniors in the civic body through whom he could provide good jobs.

The accused would tell people that he was the personal assistant of party leader Aditya Thackarey (HT Photo)

The scam came to light after 25-year-old Deven Nagvekar, a Jogeshwari resident and job aspirant paid Kalav close to ₹30 lakh. Kalav assured Nagvekar, an engineer by profession, that he could get him a job with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as a junior sub-engineer and duped him of the amount following which Nagvekar registered a complaint. Nagvekar had approached Shivaji Park police station after he learnt from his friends that Kalav was arrested by the Dadar police.

Kalav has previous cases of cheating at Dadar, NM Joshi and Kalachowkie police stations. “On April 21, he was arrested for the first time by the Dadar police and was in police custody. On April 26, Nagvekar approached us and registered the second case,” said an official from Shivaji Park police station.

During investigation, the police found that Kalav used to target engineering and diploma aspirants by giving false assurances of getting them engineering or diploma certificates with his influential contacts.

“We found that Kalav was an alcoholic and frequently visited bars where he spent most of the cash on his girlfriend,” added the official.

Manish Savardekar 24, a HSC pass-out had paid Kalav ₹10 lakh after the accused assured him that he and his brother would be given clerk jobs in the BMC. Savardekar’s father, a retired superintendent of Shahapur hospital, said, “I paid all the money I had saved through my retirement, for the job. We believed him because he showed us photographs with Aditya Thackeray and other Shiv Sena leaders and members.”

Sarvadekar was assured a clerk’s job in F-South ward. He nows plans to register a case against Kalav at NM Joshi Marg police station.