Mumbai, June 11: A couple was arrested by the Santa Cruz police recently for cheating an airline staffer by promising him a Mhada flat at Shivaji Park at a cheaper rate. The accused, Lahu Navle (44) and his wife Geeta (42), are residents of Prabhadevi. They had offered a flat worth Rs 30 lakh to the complainant, Gajendra Khedekar, for Rs 26 lakh.
According to the police, Khedekar is a resident of Elphinstone and works as a fitter with a leading airline. In 2007, he saw an advertisement in a newspaper about the availability of Mhada flats in Dadar. He then approached the Navles who claimed to be real estate agents. The couple told him about a 400-sq-ft flat in Samruddhi Society. The flat cost Rs 30 lakh but the accused offered to bring down the price to Rs 26 lakh for Khedekar.
Trusting them, Khedekar issued cheques of various amounts between October 5, 2007 and June 3, 2009. “The payments were made to the couple at a hotel on Juhu Tara Road which comes under the jurisdiction of the Santa Cruz police ,” senior inspector Madhukar Chaudhary said.
Khedekar was shocked to find out that the Shivaji Park flat was already occupied by another family. “When I contacted the Navles, they asked me to check two other flats in the neighbourhood instead. They even gave me the keys to these flats. By then, I got suspicious and demanded my money back on June 2,” Khedekar told TOI.
On inquiring with Mhada, Khedekar realised that he had been duped. Initially, he approached the Dadar police. On June 5, a case was registered by the Santa Cruz police. The following day, the couple was arrested from their residence at Prabhadevi. They have been booked on charges of cheating and a local court has sent them to police custody till June 16. “We will probe further to find out if the Navles similarly cheated other people as well,” an officer said.
—Agencies–