Man held for duping couple of Rs 30 lakh on promise SRA flat; hunt on for 2 others

Mumbai Police have arrested a man for allegedly cheating a couple to the tune of Rs 30 lakh by promising them a flat in a Slum Rehabilitation Authority's building located in Andheri last year, officials said on Tuesday.

The arrested accused was identified as Rahul Rajendra Tiwari, an official of the D N Nagar police station said.

Two others - Mahesh Tiwari and Mahesh Karande - allegedly assisted him in the fraud, but both of them are currently absconding.

Complainant woman Tayamma Mallesh Dhangar resides in Andheri along with her husband. The couple was looking to invest in a residential property in Andheri and had specifically been searching for flats in SRA or MHADA schemes, he said.

Through relatives, they came in contact with Rahul Tiwari, who claimed that he could arrange a low-cost SRA flat for them. The deal for the flat was reportedly finalised at Rs 45 lakh and legal documents were prepared following discussions, the official said.

After the agreement, Tayamma and her husband initially paid Rs 10 lakh as a token amount and later paid an additional Rs 20.50 lakh in installments towards the deal.

In July last year, the accused allegedly called the couple for biometric formalities related to the registration process. However, they were later informed that there was a server issue and were sent back. In September, Karande was introduced to the couple as the person handling the biometric process for the flat transaction.

A few days later, the three accused allegedly handed over the flat documents and keys to the couple. However, when they visited the property, they found that the flat had been sealed from the outside. Sensing foul play, they approached the SRA office and verified the documents, only to discover that all the papers were fake.

Dhangar then lodged a complaint with the police. After verification, police registered a case against Rahul Tiwari, Mahesh Tiwari and Mahesh Karande for cheating, criminal breach of trust and preparing forged documents related to the SRA flat transaction.

Rahul Tiwari was arrested after nearly a month and produced before the court, which subsequently remanded him to police custody, the official added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)