19 February,2022 08:29 AM IST | Mumbai | Sanjeev Shivadekar
Nutan Dal Mill store at Goregaon West, which has been shut down now
Goregaon police applied two different sets of rules for one nature of complaint against Ketan Rambhiya, who they arrested this week in a financial fraud case. They acted on a complaint filed by one of his victims in January, but had refused to register an FIR when another had approached them last year.
Rambhiya is the owner of Nutan Dal Mill, a chain of grocery stores in Mumbai, and he has been accused of duping his customers of over R40 crore on the pretext of investment.
Anita Roopsingh Kadecha filed a complaint on January 17, alleging that Rambhiya duped her of R41.5 lakh by promising a return of 15 per cent. Police registered an FIR on February 16, and finally arrested him on Wednesday night.
However, when another victim, Francis D'souza, approached Goregaon police on December 28, 2021, about the fraud, they refused to register an FIR. "When I approached the police with my complaint, they recorded my statement but there was hardly any progress in the case. When I asked the inspector, he told me it is a civil case and an FIR cannot be registered," Dsouza told mid-day.
Dsouza, a Goregaon resident, had to move court, urging the judiciary to instruct the police to file an FIR in his case. The hearing is scheduled on February 24.
"My principal amount is nearly R44 lakh. If one adds the interest promised by Rambhiya, the total amount would be around R80 lakh," he said. "I was assured of a flat in return of the invested amount. But, when I questioned about the delay in handing over the flat, I was given an offer of taking a 16 per cent interest on the deposited money till I got possession of the flat," Francis added.
Smita Dhamapurkar, who had âinvested' R9 lakh with Rambhiya, also came forward after his arrest. She visited the Goregaon police station on February 17 and submitted her complaint. "I had invested around R9 lakh. But, like others, even I have been cheated by the person arrested in this case," Smita told mid-day.
Dattatray Thopte, senior inspector, said they are adding statements and crime proceeds to the existing case. "Initially, an FIR was filed of around R41.50 lakh. Yesterday, two more people filed their complaint. Accordingly, another R24 lakh has been added to the crime proceeds. We will also call Francis Dsouza and record his statement, and add his invested amount to the crime proceeds."
Kadecha, a law graduate, has decided to pursue the case till its logical end. "Like me, many genuine middle- and poor-class citizens were lured by Rambhiya on the pretext of high returns. Every person has a dream to own a house of his own, and I believe like me, most of the investors got carried away by the objective to make money and buy a house for the family," she told mid-day.
According to the complainant in the case, even after marriage she was living in her father's flat. "We had some fixed deposits, savings and gold. We invested all the money, including the amount received by selling gold... I thought we would have our own house. But, now, forget about the dream of having our own home, we have lost all our savings." She wants police to seize Rambhiya's assets and ensure that they are used to repay the cheated investors.
