Couple dupes neighbours of Rs 20 L, goes missing fearing backlash

A couple residing in posh Shailesh Society at Kothrud, has gone missing after being accused of duping their neighbours of around Rs 20 lakh.u00a0Adwait and Neelam Datar, self-proclaimed investment bankers, did the vanishing act a day after few of their clients registered complaints with the local police station.u00a0

As the news spread in the locality many of their neighbours realised that theyu00a0too have been duped by the couple, who coaxed them to make investments promising hefty returns, in the similar fashion. The clients realised that they had fallen prey to the Datars when their pre-dated checks started bouncing.u00a0

So far a real estate consultant, a retired employee from Indian post services and a businessman have registered complaints against the couple so far.u00a0According to sources, the Datars had around 300 clients. So the list of their victims is set to grow longer.

Ambrish Rao, a real estate consultant who invested Rs 5 lakh last year, said heu00a0had received six cheques (of Rs 10,000 each) from as monthly interest for his investment the accused.u00a0Five cheques were successfully encashed, the sixth one was dishonoured, making Roa smell a rat.u00a0

He said, "This is not the first time I invested money with them. I had invested earlier but had got timely returns. This time I invested in my wife and mother's name. I will be lodging complaints against them for having duped us."u00a0

Raju Kulkarni, a local politician whose sister and cousin have also been duped, said, "We did not suspect any foul play till all the cheques started bouncing. Adwait used to guide investorsu00a0for investmentsu00a0in share market.u00a0I suspect around March this yearu00a0the couple incurred losses and tou00a0repay this they allegedly took private loan and somewhere lost the equilibrium of their business."u00a0