Police say he is a civic contractor who lured people into investing money in his works and told them he would double the amount and return it
Photo used for representational purpose
The Manikpur police on Saturday arrested a 32-year-old man, for allegedly cheating a woman of over '11 lakh and later threatening her by claiming to be a policeman from the Maharashtra police force. The police suspect he has cheated more people.
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The incident came to light when the 70-year-old woman approached the Manikpur police on Thursday and registered a complaint against the accused. The Manikpur police arrested the accused identified as Porus Viraf Jokhi.
Jokhi claimed he was a police sub-inspector and even had this I-card. Pics/Hanif Patel
According to the police, Jokhi is a civic contractor who stays in Vasai. The police said he would lure people into investing in his civic works (cleaning gutters, etc.) by getting tenders from the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC). He allegedly told people he would double the invested amount. The complainant also fell for this and invested about '11.5 lakh in 2018 which Jokhi told her he would double in 6 months.
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To show people that he was in touch with businessmen, etc. he even had pictures of himself with them, including one with Ratan Tata in his office. "He tried to show people how influential he was," said a police officer.
As per the statement given to the police by the complainant, she knows the accused for many years as he was a classmate of her younger daughter. She also knew that he is a BMC contractor. But he also claimed he was a policeman, according to her daughter.
The police said when the complainant asked for her money back some time later, he gave her two cheques which bounced due to insufficient balance. He then kept stalling returning the money with excuses. "Recently when she asked him again for the money, he started threatening her claiming he was a policeman," the officer added. "We arrested the accused yesterday under various sections of IPC including personating a public servant. He was produced before the court and remanded in police custody," said another officer from the Manikpur police station.
Rs 11L
The total amount the complainant gave the accused
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