Mumbai Crime: Man held for conning NRI diamond trader of over Rs 2 cr

The accused, Chintu Bihani

The Oshiwara police have arrested a member of a gang who duped an NRI diamond trader, Mohabbat Alam Khan, to the tune of R2.17 crore on the pretext of getting his TV serials on air. The accused, Chintu Ratnakar Bihani, 42, was arrested from a satellite town of Delhi, and brought to Mumbai where he was produced before the Metropolitan Magistrate court in Bandra on Sunday. It remanded him in police custody for further investigation.

Khan told mid-day that he met Bihani nearly a decade ago. "A family friend introduced me to Bihani. The deal was done with an agreement that Bihani would help get me the approval from the Doordarshan office, Delhi, to get my serials on air. For this I made several payments by cash and cheque from 2009 to early 2016," said Khan, who owns Imagika Entertainment Private Limited, a film production house.

An officer from Oshiwara police station said Bihani had given post-dated cheques to Khan. "It is an old trick of con artists to win the confidence of the victim," a police officer said. Between 2009 and 2016, Khan said Chintu, his wife Meena, and accomplice Dharmendra Arora fooled him on different occasions as he hardly spends time in India.

"I am an NRI and have been living in Tokyo, Canada and New York. Whenever I contacted them, they fooled me," he said. Sources said Bihani and his accomplices have duped over a dozen people from Bollywood of crores, using the same modus operandi. Police are looking for Meena and Arora.

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