Two men pose as MHADA agents, cheat Mumbai resident of Rs19.5 lakh, arrested

The accused told the victim they would help him get a flat in a tower in Parel.

The Kherwadi police recently arrested two men who pretended to be MHADA agents, for allegedly cheating a Goregaon resident of Rs19.5 lakh on the pretext of getting him a flat in Parel. The police are looking for five other people who helped them.

The police have arrested two accused, and are on the lookout for five others. (Picture for representation)

The accused, in a bid to win the confidence of the victim, also called him to the MHADA office at Bandra (East).

The two accused have been identified as Javed Patel and Sampanna Parab.

The complainant, Vijay Kamble, resides in Goregaon (East) and works as a BEST driver. He had discussed his plans to buy a house with his colleague, Sampanna Parab. Parab then introduced Kamble to Patel, and assured him that Patel was reliable person who had contacts with senior MHADA officers.

Patel demanded Rs25 lakh from Kamble, and promised him a house in a tower in Parel. Kamble then sold his room in Parel and gave Patel Rs18 lakh in two installments.

After taking the amount, Patel took the victim to Parimal Tower in Parel to ‘look at flats’. After Kamble ‘finalised’ one flat, he told Patel to speed up the process as he wanted the flat’s possession as early as possible. The victim then gave a demand draft of another Rs5 lakh in favour of “Offices bank account Mhada lottery 2014” to a man called Anil.

He then approached the MHADA officers in Bandra and narrated the entire incident. The officers told Kamble that he had been cheated, and advised him to file a police complaint.

Kamble then approached the Kherwadi police and an FIR was registered on September 22.

“As per Kamble’s allegation, we conducted an inquiry and arrested Parab and Patel from Bandra. Patel’s brother Ibrahim and four other suspects are also wanted in the case. Investigations are on, and we have learnt that Patel has cheated other people in the past,” said senior inspector Rajendra Patil of Kherwadi police station.

Both the arrested accused have been sent to judicial custody.