MUMBAI: A Worli resident allegedly cheated a 41-year-old assistant manager working with a private firm of nearly Rs 96 lakh by claiming that the police were looking for him in a woman’s attempted suicide case and another woman was going to file a sexual assault case against him.
The accused, Aditya Waghela (25), allegedly also created a fake Facebook profile of a woman to chat with the complainant, his neighbour.
Waghela had filed anticipatory bail applications before the sessions court and the Bombay high court, but both were rejected. After he surrendered, he was sent to judicial custody.
Worli police are likely to approach the court on Friday to take Waghela in custody for interrogation.
Waghela and the complainant were neighbours in a chawl in Worli, but a couple of years ago the latter shifted to Palghar with his wife and children while his parents still stay there.
It all began in 2017, when Waghela told the complainant that a woman in their chawl was to get Rs 40 lakh after selling her land, but she needed money to cover the court expenses and legal fees as the land was in dispute. In various instalments, Waghela allegedly took Rs 35 lakh from the complainant to help the woman.
Waghela allegedly even opened a social media account posing as the woman and chatted with the complainant, said the police.
In his complaint, the victim said he got scared after Waghela told him that woman was going to lodge a sexual harassment complaint against him and another woman had attempted suicide and was going to blame him.
The complainant said he paid him Rs 15 lakh to Waghela to settle the police case. The accused allegedly took the names of two police officers while collecting the money. Later, the complainant learnt there were no such officers at Worli police station. He then informed his family about the cheating and approached the police in June.
The accused had allegedly also forged a letterhead of the cyber police.
“The complainant has said in the FIR that he was cheated on various occasions of a total Rs 96.2 lakh. We will interrogate the accused,” said Anil Koli, senior inspector of Worli police station. According to the FIR, the victim had transferred the money into the accused’s bank account and even given him cash.
