Dharavi: Man held for taking loan against fake gold

The accused would cite medical reasons for taking loans. Representation pic

The Dharavi police have arrested a conman for taking loans from Muthoot Fincorp Private Limited against fake gold. The arrested accused's associate, who is still at large, was the mastermind of the crime as he hatched the plan and took loan twice using the other's Aadhaar card. On their third attempt, officials of the financial company became suspicious and on checking the gold, they found it to be fake.

According to information received from the police, on December 1, Harshada Shirshat, manager of the Dharavi-Sion branch of Muthoot Fincorp Private Limited lodged a complaint in the matter. In the complaint Shirshat mentioned that a couple of days back two people visited the branch and took loan against gold. Both have been identified as Mahendra Giri and Sahil K. Giri told Shirshat that Sahil's mother's health was deteriorating and he needed money.

Accused Mahendra Giri

Shirshat checked the gold brought by him and gave him Rs 1,60,000. Two days later, the duo returned and again asked for a loan against gold. Giri said that more money was needed for treatment. Following this, Shirshat checked the gold and gave him another Rs 1,55,900.

After a week, the duo approached the Thane unit of the financial company and asked for another loan. The branch manager checked Giri's Aadhaar card and PAN card, which had a Dharavi address. That is when the manager told them to take the loan from the Dharavi branch. Following this, the duo told him that they had already taken loans from the Dharavi branch and needed more. When the Thane manager contacted Shirshat, the duo left the office. The gold given by them was audited and it turned out to be fake.

Thereafter, Shirshat filed a complaint with the Dharavi police. The cops then arrested Giri, while Sahil is absconding. A police officer told mid-day, "Sahil had hatched a plan to take loan against fake gold and used Giri's Aadhaar card for it." Deputy Commissioner of Police, Pranay Ashok said, "After we received the complaint from the branch manager, we started investigating. A search is on for Sahil."