83-year-old Mumbai man dupes woman of ₹20 lakh by offering flat for sale, arrested

The Mumbai police later found that he had no flat, and that he had another cheating case registered against him in Pimpri, Pune.

An 83-year-old man was arrested by the Vakola police on Wednesday for allegedly duping a 50-year-old woman of Rs20 lakh by promising to sell her his flat. The police later found that he had no flat, and the woman should not have made the entire payment in cash.

According to the Vakola police, the arrested accused, identified as Shivchandra Chitnis, has another cheating case registered against him in Pimpri, Pune, where he cheated another person of Rs2.5 lakh by promising to get him a tender from a private firm.

The complainant in the Vakola case works in the postal and telegram department, and she got in touch with Chitnis through a mutual friend who also works in the same department. Since she trusted her friend, she never doubted Chitnis’ intentions.

Chitnis promised to sell her his flat in Kharghar by telling her that he had plans to move back to his village with the money he got from it.

Since the past one year, the woman paid Rs20 lakh to Chitnis in instalments. However, neither did she keep a proof of the money she gave to him, nor did she ever bother to a visit the Kharghar flat that she intended to buy. Chitnis became incognito earlier this year.

Acting on a tip-off, Chitnis was arrested and the Vakola police have got his custody for two days from a magistrate court for further probe.