Promise of role in Marathi movie leaves Pune woman duped of Rs15 L

The woman told the police that the accused asked for money in order to start a stock market trading company in Pune.

A 21-year-old man was booked by Pune police for duping a 31-year-old woman on the pretext of providing her a role in the Marathi cinema industry. The man was identified as Tushar Madhukar Deshmukh, 21, a resident of Badlapur in Ambarnath, Thane.

The 31-year-old complainant from Pune has submitted in her complaint that she was duped for ₹15,70,400 by Deshmukh. (HT REPRESENTATIONAL PHOTO)

The 31-year-old complainant from Pune has submitted in her complaint that she was duped for ₹15,70,400 by Deshmukh. The complainant has a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) and held a job in a private company, until she left the job to pursue a career in acting.

The woman told the police that the accused asked for money in order to start a stock market trading company in Pune. Through various bank transactions and a few cash payments, the woman gave Deshmukh ₹15,70,400, according to her complaint to the police.

"They met on Facebook (in 2016) and then met in person. When she started trusting him, he told her he will get her a role in a Marathi film. When that did not work out, he asked her to help him setup a stock trading business in Pune and offered to make her the company's chief. When that also did not work out, she asked him to return the money. He started asking for sexual favours from her and started threatening her," said Chetan More, assistant police inspector (API) of Sahkarnagar police station, who is investigating the case.

The woman lives with her parents in Pune. A case under Sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at Sahkarnagar police station against Deshmukh.