Aspiring actor held for cheating singer, friends of Rs 45L

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The Gorai police have arrested a fraudster and are looking for his accomplice, for duping several actors and singers to the tune of Rs 45 lakh, on the pretext of investment in the stock market and high returns. The arrested accused has been identified as Rajesh Singh Parmar alias Dakshit Rajput alias Kartik, 38, an aspiring actor. The Gorai police caught Parmar in Indore on Tuesday. His accomplice Vini Narewal, 33, is still at large.

According to the police, preliminary investigation has revealed that the duo cheated singer Vishakha Sapkal, 40, and her husband Ashish of R15 lakh and their friends of Rs 30 lakh. Under the supervision of Senior Inspector Mandakani Narote, Inspector Ganesh Lokare and a detection team traced Parmar to Indore, nabbed him on April 5 and brought him to Mumbai.

During interrogation it was revealed that apart from Sapkal, the duo had duped several other people in Maharashtra, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Chennai in the same manner, said an officer from Gorai police station. Parmar is a native of Madhya Pradesh, and came to Mumbai six years ago to pursue a career in films. He joined acting classes held by the complainant's husband and became a close friend. The police said Parmar introduced Ashish to Narewal whom he presented as an expert in stock trading. They lured Sapkal into investing in stocks on the pretext of high returns every month.

Sapkal gave the duo more than Rs 15 lakh to invest and many of his friends - actors and singers - gave them around R30 lakh for investment. The police said initially they gave some returns to the investors, but during the lockdown they stopped doing so. The police said Parmar and Narewal then left Mumbai. Sapkal had filed a complaint in this regard at the Gorai police station. After two years the police traced and caught Parmar, Narewal is still at large, said a police officer. The police are adding supplementary complaints of five other victims to the FIR. "Parmar was produced in court and remanded in police custody till April 12. We are looking for Narewal," said Inspector Ganesh Lokare from Gorai police station.