Street fight exposes fraudsters, lands them in handcuffs in Goregaon

Police have arrested two men and are looking for at least three others. Representation pic

A street fight helped the Bangur Nagar police catch two fraudsters, part of a gang that duped people by offering them loans. The incident took place outside Swami Ayyappa Temple on Thursday when a Pune-based businessman and two others were fighting over a demand draft. Police learnt that a group of men, including mastermind Vishwasnath Shukla, Arunendra Singh, Manish Shah, Rajesh Gupta and Sharad Ajit Lala, were trying to dupe businessman Hanumant Chauhan of Rs 15 lakh by promising a loan of Rs 120 crore.

Chauhan and his friend were looking to expand their business, but were unable to get a loan. On November 11, Chauhan's acquaintances told him that a man in Mumbai, Shah, could help them. They reached Mumbai and met three of the gang in Juhu. One of them introduced himself as a doctor and told Chauhan that he could get him the loan through a trade profit fund. He showed them the hospital's bank statements to gain their trust.

Vishwasnath Shukla, the mastermind

The friends agreed and met two of them in Andheri the next day with the documents of their business. The gang told them that Arunendra Singh, the vice president of a trade profit fund company, will sign the final approval papers for the disbursement of Rs 120 crore, and that Chauhan needed to bear his travel and stay expenses of Rs 12 lakh. The accused met the duo again on November 15 in South Mumbai and demanded a demand draft (DD) of Rs 15 lakh as surety for the loan amount. On Tuesday, Chauhan was told to meet Singh at outside the temple at Bangur Nagar, Malad West.

During the meeting on Thursday, Shukla, who was posing as Singh, asked for the demand draft and Chauhan gave him coloured Xerox copy of the DD. Shukla suspected foul play and demanded the original DD. An argument broke out between the two and the passers-by called the police control room.

Inspector D Gund and Assistant Inspector Amar Dhenge, led by Senior Inspector Shobha Pise, reached the spot and took all the men to the police station. Chauhan told the officers everything and also gave a statement. Police then filed an FIR and arrested Lala, 36, and Shuka, 44, said an officer from Bangur Nagar police station. They are looking for the others.

Police said Shukla was the mastermind and his associates introduced him to the victims as a doctor and a financier, who has many hospitals in different cities across India. During the interrogation, the arrested accused confessed to cheating three others using the same technique. They had duped R47 lakh from a businessman in Sakinaka and Rs 17 lakh from another in Pune. Police have recovered fake documents, demand drafts, Aadhaar cards and other IDs from the accused. They have booked them for cheating and forgery.