Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
Promising high returns in grocery trade through fake oil and sago deals, a pigmy agent couple allegedly cheated four locals of Rs 65 lakh and fled after shutting their house and shop. Pundliknagar police have booked Suresh Ghatul and his wife Ravita in the case.
Main complainant Kishore Shinde (38), who runs a dairy and grocery store in Garkheda’s Matoshree Nagar, was introduced to Ghatul through a pigmy agent named Akshay. Over four months, Shinde bought goods from Ghatul and was later lured into investing Rs 17 lakh raised by mortgaging his house to buy oil tankers with the promise of resale profits. Ghatul later demanded more funds under the pretext of a sago consignment. Shinde asked for returns from the earlier deal. In response, Ghatul issued a Rs 6.3 lakh cheque in his wife’s name. Trusting this, Shinde sent another Rs 5 lakh between March 31 and April 5. When Shinde asked for his Rs 22 lakh back, Ghatul stopped responding. The cheque bounced, and a visit to Ghatul’s house revealed they had vanished, locking up both home and shop. Shinde wasn’t the only victim. Vijay Shinde lost Rs 12 lakh, Prabhakar Dhotre Rs 5 lakh, Nitin Borade Rs 16 lakh, and Akshay Lenekar Rs 10 lakh all conned in similar ways. Police are now on the lookout for the couple, dubbed the city's very own ‘Bunty-Babli’ of pigmy fraud.