An event management professional from Andheri West has filed a complaint with Amboli police after being allegedly duped of Rs 12.8 lakh by a man posing as a government official promising lucrative contracts for the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, earlier this year. According to the officers, the complainant had submitted a written application at the police station earlier, and following an inquiry, an FIR was registered late on Wednesday night.

The police said that the 49-year-old complainant, the proprietor of an event management firm based in Andheri West, met the accused Anutosh alias Ashutosh Upadhyay on a flight from Lucknow to Mumbai on May 2, 2024. During the journey, Upadhyay allegedly introduced himself as a board member of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and later claimed to be the national director of various organisations, including the Adarsh Brahmin Foundation and the National Human Rights & Social Justice Commission.

The complaint told police that Upadhyay convinced him that the UP government had selected his company as an official event partner for the Kumbh Mela. To secure the contract, the complaint was asked to pay a “registration fee” of Rs 2.8 lakh, followed by an additional Rs 10 lakh towards other formalities. The money was transferred through NEFT and deposited into an ICICI Bank account linked to a firm allegedly controlled by Upadhyay.