Mumbai: Two held for duping people on pretext of providing easy loans

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The Mumbai Police on Saturday arrested two history-sheeters from Navi Mumbai for allegedly duping people by posing as high-ranking officers of a finance company and taking money from them on the pretext of providing easy loans, an official told news agency PTI.

The arrested accused have more than 20 cases registered in their names for committing similar crimes in Pune, Asangaon and parts of Mumbai, the official said.

According to the police, the duo would print pamphlets about a finance company granting easy loans and distribute these with the help of newspaper vendors, the official told PTI.

The accused would visit the homes of people who contacted them, as they did not have an office, the official told PTI.

One of the victims lodged a complaint claiming that he had lost Rs 6.13 lakh to the accused who had taken money from him as processing fees, documents registration charges, etc for a loan, he said, adding that another man had been similarly cheated of Rs 2.6 lakh.

The duo has been arrested under sections 420 (cheating) and 406 (breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code, the official told PTI.

In another incident, a 31-year-old man was arrested from West Bengal for allegedly sending obscene morphed photographs of a woman to her husband via Whatsapp and then seeking money to not circulate it to her contacts, a Mumbai police official told PTI on Friday.

Abdul Rahman Hasnoor Mandal, a resident of North 24 Parganas in West Bengal, was nabbed by a team of LT Marg police station from Bangaon on the India-Bangladesh border, the official told PTI.

"On May 12, a shop owner from Kalbadevi area got a Whatsapp message which contained morphed obscene photographs of his wife. The accused sought Rs 14,000 from him to stop further circulation of the photographs. He also sent it to a relative of the woman and one of her friend's daughter," the official told PTI.

On the victim's husband's complaint, a case was registered under Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act provisions, following which Mandal was nabbed from West Bengal, the official added.

(With inputs from PTI)