Thane crime: Real estate dealer "lured" into investment fraud, three booked

Police in Maharashtrarsquos Thane district has booked three persons for allegedly duping a 54yearold businessman of Rs 303 lakh who lured him into investing in a hotel in the districtA police official said that based on a complaint an offence was registered under section 420 cheating of the Indian Penal Code at the MFC police station in Kalyan on ThursdayThe complainant who has a real estate business has alleged that the accused lured him to invest in a hotel and took Rs 303 lakh from him between June and September 2023 newswire PTI reportedWhen the complainant asked the accused about the progress of the project they gave him evasive replies following which he lodged a complaint the official said adding that no arrest has been made in the case so farIn another incident police in Thane district has registered a case against three persons for allegedly cheating a Thane cloth merchant of nearly Rs 41 lakh on the pretext of helping him set up a petrol pump an official said on FridayThe trio identified as Varun Jaiswal Manoj Sharma and Amit first got in touch with the 23yearold complainant from Bhiwandi in December 2022 with a proposal for a petrol pumpAlso read Ram Temple inauguration Light Ram Jyoti on Jan 22 says PM ModiSince then they allegedly made the complainant shell out a total of Rs 4149 lakh on the pretext of security deposit licensing fee and funds for machinery for the fuel station the official saidHowever the accused did not initiate any process for obtaining the necessary permits despite followups the complainant told the policeThe Thane cloth merchant approached the police with a complaint against the accused on Wednesday after which a case was registered against them under Indian Penal Code section 420 cheating and 465 forgery said the station house officer of the Bhiwandi town police stationIn another incident police registered a case against four persons including two women for allegedly duping 30 people of more than Rs 52 lakh by luring them into investing in their car rental firm and obtaining loan using the names of some othersThe case was filed at the APMC police station in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday he saidThe accused identified as Nisha Gosavi Farooque Bhagyashri and Ankush Pawar were booked under the Indian Penal Code IPC sections 420 cheating 406 criminal breach of trust and 34 common intentionSince June 2022 they targeted approximately 30 persons promising them high returns on investment into their car rental venture The victims collectively handed over Rs 5243000 with the expectation of acquiring cars for their business However the accused failed to deliver any vehicle the complaint saidThe accused also managed to get documents for obtaining loans in the names of 12 other individuals apparently for the purchase of electric scooters However they misappropriated the loan amount the official said With inputs from agencies