Duo dupe Sobo man of ₹5L in ‘heavy deposit’ flat fraud, held

We have received four additional complaints from persons who had approached the accused. POLICE OFFICER, Mankhurd police station

MUMBAI: A woman and a real estate agent have been arrested by the Mankhurd police for allegedly cheating a South Mumbai resident to the tune of ₹5 lakh in a rental scam.

A complaint in this regard was filed by Mohamed Shaikh, 40, a resident of Mumbai Central, following which the police arrested Ashwini Satish Gaikwad, 31, and Dinesh Tak alias Walmini, 30.

According to the complaint, Shaikh had met the duo when he was looking to rent a room for residential purposes. The accused promised to find the complainant a place in Mankhurd through what the police termed a “heavy deposit scheme” wherein the tenant is not charged a monthly rent but is instead required to give a one-time large amount as deposit.

The deposit would be refunded once the leave-and-licence agreement of 11 months matured and the property was returned to the owner in its original form.

“While Shaikh paid ₹5 lakh via a cheque as deposit, he did not get the room. The cheque was cleared by the accused, post which they started to give Shaikh evasive replies regarding the room,” said a police officer from Mankhurd police station. “We have received four more complaints from persons who had approached the accused for the room.”

Gaikwad and Tak have been charged under section 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).