Mumbai Crime: Gang of six dupe Delhi-based businessman for Rs 50 lakh

A photo of the gang of six accused men, who duped the Delhi businessman, after their arrest. Pic/ Diwakar Sharma

A gang of six men have been arrested by the LT Marg police for cheating a Delhi-based garment businessman Rajesh Kumar Narayan Jha (44) of Rs 50 lakh on July 19. The arrested accused have been identified as Rajendra Mohammad Shaikh (26), Swapnil Ratnakar Kamble (29), Abhishek alias Imran Mallik (30), Rajesh Purohit (42), Vijay Bhosale (47) and Sewaram Prajapati (46).

"Jha had visited Mumbai on a business trip with Rs 50 lakh cash in his possession on July 19. After his two-day stay in the city, he planned to transfer the money into his account for which he contacted his Chartered Accountant (CA) in Delhi who then suggested a person who can help keep his money safe. "After Jha contacted the person he told him to get in touch with Shaikh, who then agreed to take him to a shop in Kalbadevi to transfer the money," said an officer privy to the investigation.

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On July 22, Shaikh informed his accomplices who then hatched a plan to cheat the victim. According to them, the case would not have been registered as it involves black money. As per their plan, Shaikh and Kamble took Jha to the shop in Kalbadevi where their other accomplices were already present.

"The gang members asked Jha to keep the cash bag on the counter and told him that he would receive an SMS alert once the money is transferred to a safe haven for further use. But after waiting for nearly four hours after the incident, between 12-2 pm, Jha panicked and told them that he has not received any SMS alert. The gang members told him that the money has already been sent and that the SMS delivery may take time due to congestion in the network signal, after which, all the accused left from the place," said another officer.

Jha had been continuously calling Shaikh for the money and in turn, the latter assured to return his money if the SMS did not come in. After waiting for five days, Jha approached the LT Marg police station where he registered a case against them. The zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police, Rajiv Jain, formed two groups of officers including PSI Hanmat Kumbhare, hawaldar Prakash Sawant, constable Sambhaji Chougule, Kiran Gujar, Kiran Mahajan, police naik Prashant Chavan.

"Based on technical evidence, we arrested the accused from different locations in and around the city including Malwani, Malad, Grant Road, Bhayandar, Naigaon. They have been booked under sections 420 and 34 of IPC. They are in police custody till August 3," said another officer.

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Most of the accused have been arrested for the first time but the cops said, "We are checking the criminal history of Mallik and Bhosale as they are the masterminds of this crime." Sources told mid-day that the cops may add section 120 (B) of IPC to the existing FIR against the gang members.

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