Police arrest school dropout who duped 29 people of ₹4.31 cr

SHAIKH HAD BEEN ARRESTED EARLIER THIS YEAR BY THE POLICE IN ANOTHER CASE, WHERE HE HAD PROMISED THE VICTIM A FLAT AT SANGHARSH NAGAR

The Sakinaka police on Monday arrested the 35-yearold alleged mastermind of a racket, which duped 29 people to the tune of Rs4.31 crore on the pretext of getting them MHADA and SRA flats at throwaway prices.

The arrested accused, Nizam Shaikh, will be produced before a magistrate’s court on Tuesday.

Shaikh dropped out of school after failing his SSC exams. He would pose as a real estate agent with ties with prominent builder lobbies. A resident of Jogeshwari, Shaikh would travel in high-end cars like Audis and BMWS. He even had private bodyguards.

Shaikh would tell his victims that he had ties with ministers and show them pictures. He would send his aide to the homes of his victims disguised as a minister’s or builder’s secretary or a MHADA officer. After the victims paid him, they would be given fake receipts.

Shaikh had been arrested earlier this year by the Sakinaka police in another case of cheating, where he had promised the victim a flat at Sangharsh Nagar in Sakinaka for Rs11 lakh.

He told the victims that he had connections in Mantralaya, MHADA, SRA , BMC and even builder lobbies.

He promised to get them flats worth Rs1 crore at just Rs 10 lakh or Rs 20 lakh under a special quota for the specially abled and MLAS.

Two others have been arrested in the case and 16 more are wanted.