Palghar: Man duped of Rs 6.5 lakh with promise of loan under central scheme

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A snack shop owner from Dahanu in Maharashtra's Palghar district has been cheated of nearly Rs 6.5 lakh with the promise of getting a loan for his son under a central scheme, the police told news agency PTI on Saturday.

The complainant told the police that accused Arvind Vinayak Baviskar offered to arrange a loan under the Centre's Micro-Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) scheme that provides credit of up to Rs 10 lakh to small entrepreneurs, reported PTI.

Between January 2021 and November 2022, the accused allegedly collected Rs 6.5 lakh from the complainant on various pretexts, including charges towards the preparation of a project report, for the sanction of the loan in his son's name, an official told PTI.

The accused handed him over fake documents claiming that that loan had been sanctioned. When the complainant realised he had been conned, he approached the police, reported PTI.

Superintendent of Police Balasaheb Patil told PTI that a case has been registered against accused Baviskar under Indian Penal Code sections, including 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery) and 464 (making of a false document in the name of a fictitious person).

No arrest has been made so far, the official told PTI.

In another incident, a 48-year-old man from Maharashtra's Navi Mumbai allegedly lost nearly Rs 18 lakh after being lured with easy money through "online tasks", an official told PTI on Saturday.

The complainant, a resident of Kharghar, told the police that some people got in touch with him through the Telegram app offering "pre-paid" online tasks and irresistible returns, reported PTI.

The man received some money initially but ended up forking out Rs 17.9 lakh between August 22 and 23. The money was transferred to four bank accounts, he told the police, reported PTI.

When the man sought payment for the tasks done by him and the return of his money, the fraudsters gave vague replies and then became unreachable, the official told PTI.

Based on the man's complaint, the Cyber Police station of Navi Mumbai on Friday registered a case of cheating under the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act, the official told PTI, adding that no arrests have been made so far.

(With inputs from PTI)