Swindler dupes more than 150

Police on the lookout for 36-year-old Hiten Sampat, who splurges stolen money on plush five-star hotels and high-profile escorts

Swindler dupes more than 150

Police on the lookout for 36-year-old Hiten Sampat, who splurges stolen money on plush five-star hotels and high-profile escorts

In reel life, Akshay Kumar became Tabrez Mirza Khan in Tees Maar Khan and conned several people of lakhs of rupees.

Now, it seems, an actual Tabrez Mirza Khan has surfaced in Vashi in the form of Hiten Sampat (36), who has conned several people by promising them better jobs and solutions to their legal woes.

A CCTV grab of Hiten Sampat trying to book a room at the Santactruz hotel along with a female escort

According to police officials, Sampat has duped as many as 150 people across the city and Navi Mumbai through the same modus operandi. They said he spent the money thus earned on five-star hotels with call girls.
Sampat's fraudulent ways came to light when 77-year-old Mohini Kamwani, a Vashi resident, lodged a complaint against him last month.

u00a0"Mohini met Sampat when she was travelling from Vashi to Dadar last month. He found out that Mohini was fighting a legal case related to her family and promised to help.

He claimed that the president of a prominent women's rights organization was his aunt and he could take her to Delhi to meet her," said an officer from Vashi police station, where the complaint was lodged.

"Sampat took Mohini to New Delhi and made off with Rs 18,000 when they were at a hotel. He did not answer repeated calls and Mohini returned and filed a complaint on March 12," said Inspector Hrishikesh Pawal of the Vashi police.u00a0

During investigation, the police found that Sampat's mobile number was registered in the name of a Stalin Monterio.

"We tracked Monterio to a hotel in Vashi, where he works at the reception. When we approached him, he informed us that he, too, had fallen victim to Sampat's scheming ways. Sampat had promised him a job abroad and then fled with his passport and Rs 20,000," he added.

Fond of escorts

Police have revealed that Sampat has expensive tastes, including a fondness for high-profile escorts.
"He has a habit of staying in hotels with prostitutes and then duping the hotel staff by promising them jobs or any other help," said a police officer.

Police also learnt that, in February, Sampat had tried to book a room at a Santacruz hotel.

"He came and stayed here for five days a couple of months ago. He then walked in with a call girl and since we do not permit it, I refused them entry into the room," said Krishna, the manager of the hotel.

"He fled and did not even pay the Rs 25,000 that he owed us," he added.u00a0Trying to track the conman, police tracked his phone records, which led them to hisu00a0 parents' house.

Sampat's father, however, said that he had thrown Hiten out of the house three years back

"His father told us he knows Hiten is a thief and asked us to arrest him," said PI Pawal. Meanwhile, Sampat has been calling Kamwani and threatening her for lodging a police complaint.

The Vashi police is trying to track the number and is trying to arrest him, which is difficult as he keeps changing his location.