30 January,2017 07:00 AM IST | | Anurag Kamble
Millionaire diamond merchant accused of duping a woman of Rs 20 lakh finally nailed by Mumbai police during his regular Saturday morning walk ritual with wife
Morning walk with wife leads to millionaire conman's arrest in Mumbai
Sometimes, it's those little rituals that become habit that can do you in. In this case, it was notorious diamond merchant from Napean Sea Road, Aditya Jogani (39), who was arrested by the DB Marg police for scamming a manager with a marketing firm thanks to a morning walk routine he followed with his wife.
Aditya Jogani had borrowed Rs 15 lakh from Sanjana.
It all began when Sanjana (name changed), a general manager by profession, befriended Jogani, a diamond merchant and resident of Napean Sea Road. In January 2016, Jogani borrowed Rs 15 lakh from Sanjana, claiming he needed it urgently and would return it soon enough. When Sanjana asked for the money in a couple of months though, he told her that instead of returning the money, he would buy her an SUV of similar value. Sanjana accepted that offer too since she needed a car anyway. A few days later, Jogani handed her a receipt for a Mahindra SUV priced at Rs 20.55 lakh, and told her that she could follow up the delivery with the car dealer. He even collected the difference from her.
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When he couldn't return the money, he promised to buy her an SUV and also handed her a receipt for it
It comes apart
When Sanjana visited the car dealer, however, to check on the delivery status, she is shocked to discover that no booking has been made in her name and that Jogani had forged the receipt. She immediately contacted him, but he put her off by promising to return the money soon.
By September, subsequent attempts to get in touch with him failed and Sanjana, realising she wouldn't see her money anytime soon, approached the DB Marg police to file a complaint. A manhunt was launched under senior inspector Pandurang Shinde's team along with inspector Dayanand Chougule.
However, when Sanjana went to the car dealer, she learnt it was a fake receipt
"During our investigation, we got reliable information that he comes for a morning walk with his wife to the Priyadarshini Park every Saturday so we decided to lay a trap for him." said Chougule.
The fateful day
On January 11 at 5 am, Chougule was arrested from the park, while he was out on a walk with his wife. He was booked under relevant sections of the IPC including 406 (Criminal breach of trust), 420 (Cheating) and 465 (forgery).
He managed to secure bail and was released subsequently.
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Jogani was later arrested at Priyadarshini Park and booked for cheating. Illustrations/Ravi Jadhav
This is not the first instance of Jogani being booked. In a previous case, Jogani had cheated a Dadar diamond trader of Rs 2 crore.
"Till now, we have information of 9 offences registered against Jogani, said inspector Chougule, adding, "Despite being a millionaire, he has a criminal mentality, which often lands him in jail."
