Mumbai: Police arrest two in MHADA and SRA flat scam

The police said it was reported that the accused had promised people flats at cheaper rates

The Nehru Nagar police in Mumbai have arrested two individuals accused of cheating people in a massive scam involving flats in MHADA (Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority) and SRA (Slum Rehabilitation Authority) schemes. The accused allegedly cheated people by promising them flats at cheaper rates, but instead pocketed the money and fled.

The police claim that the accused have multiple cases registered against them across different police stations in Mumbai, indicating a pattern of criminal behaviour. Moreover, the accused are also believed to have cheated people through the 99 Acres platform, which is a popular real estate website.

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According to the police, in June 2023 a case was registered with Nehru Nagar police station against four people for cheating more than five people to Rs 40.96 lakh. After the case was registered the police started the search of the accused who were continuously changing the location and mobile phones.

Shahin Desai, Police sub-inspector, Nehru Nagar police station and his team members recently traced two accused Pritam Kundal Oswal (40) and S Paul Singh (54). The police are now in search of Dalvi and Imran who are absconding, with the help of technical details provided by the DCP office. "We have arrested the accused who were changing location and number to avoid arrest. We arrested Oswal from Kalyan and Singh from Mumbai. Search to trace the other accused is going on," said Desai.

Desai further said a total of three cases were registered with Nehru Nagar police station in 2023. Where in one case the amount is Rs 40 lakhs while calculating other cases it would round more than a crore. "We took the custody of the accused in three different cases and arresting further investigating the matter," added Desai stating the accused were also booked in different police stations in Mumbai and the search by other police stations to trace the accused was going on.

The police said it was reported that the accused had promised people flats at cheaper rates, taking advantage of their desperation for affordable housing. The victims were likely unaware of the fact that the flats were not available or were part of a fraudulent scheme. "During the investigation, it was found that Oswal is an MBA pass-out and is the mastermind, where he used to place advertisements on papers and different platforms. While Singh and Dalvi used to pretend themselves as MHADA and SRA officers in front of the victims. While Imran job was to search for cheaper rates flats and make use of it for advertisement on the platforms," said a police officer.

After the arrest of these two accused, it was revealed that they had cheated more than 40 people in this way. To expose this entire gang, DCP Hemraj Singh Rajput, Senior Police Inspector, Yusuf Saudagar, API Ajay Bhosale, PSI Shahin Desai, Police Staff Ganesh Ugale, Suryavanshi, Kasbe, Tushar and Wankhede did efforts to trace them.