BMC sweeper who posed as MHADA officer by night arrested in Mumbai

Rajendra Shankar Ghadge would hide his face with a scarf while working as a BMC sweeper during the daytime, but would leave the premises wearing a suit and a tie.

 The Sion police have arrested a 47-year-old BMC employee who would work as a sweeper by day and pose as a high-level Mhada official by night.

The police found Ghadge has cheated more then 10 people, amassing at least Rs1 crore.

According to the police, the accused, Rajendra Shankar Ghadge, is a resident of Govandi. He would hide his face with a scarf while working as a BMC sweeper during the daytime, but would leave the premises wearing a suit and a tie.

The police said the accused was arrested from his native place in Satara.

The police said in 2015, one of the complainants, Sandeep Mane, a Sion resident, met the accused through a common friend.

The accused told Mane he was responsible for sanctioning ten Mhada flats.

An officer from Sion police station, on condition of anonymity, said, “Ghadge claimed Mhada rooms were worth Rs40 lakh, but he could help them own a house for Rs7 lakh. He was fluent in English and smooth-talked the victim and convinced him to pay the amount.”

Mane took loans from his friends and relatives and sold his wife’s jewellery to collect Rs7 lakh, which he gave Ghadge in 2016.

“The accused claimed he would be giving them the keys of the house at the earliest. But whenever the victim called him, Ghadge would say he was waiting for an auspicious day,” said an officer.

Later, Ghage began ignoring Mane’s calls after which a complaint was filed with Sion police station.

After preliminary investigations, police registered a cheating case against Ghadge.

Looking for the accused, a police team reached the M ward of the BMC. Following this, he fled to his native Satara. A team was then dispatched to Satara and the accused was caught.

The police found Ghadge has cheated more then 10 people, amassing at least Rs1 crore.

The officer said, “The accused had even lied to his family members and close friends that he was a high-level BMC officer. So he started cheating and looking at his standard of living, none of his friends or family ever questioned his profession.”