The Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) of the Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested two men for allegedly cheating people of crores of rupees by promising them a defence department sub-contract and later threatening them when they demanded their money back.
The arrested accused have been identified as Jawahar Singh (64) and Dr Ajay Singh (40). According to an official, Ajay Singh was arrested earlier this week, while Jawahar Singh was apprehended from the Mira Road area on Friday.
Police said an FIR in the case was registered at Samta Nagar Police Station in November last year. The accused allegedly cheated two individuals of around ₹7 crore on the pretext of securing them a government sub-contract related to a Navy establishment project.
According to Crime Branch officials, a government contract from a Navy establishment had been awarded to a company owned by Ajay Singh’s father-in-law. Taking advantage of this, Ajay Singh allegedly collected ₹3 crore from one victim and ₹4 crore from another, promising to arrange a sub-contract for them. Jawahar Singh is accused of supporting and endorsing Ajay Singh’s claims to gain the victims’ trust.
However, when the promised sub-contract did not materialise and the victims demanded their money back, the accused allegedly threatened them with dire consequences, including death threats.
Following the complaint, a case was registered at Samta Nagar Police Station and the investigation was later transferred to the Mumbai Crime Branch.
An official stated that sub-contracts cannot be issued for such defence-related contracts, yet the accused used this false promise to extract crores of rupees from the victims and later intimidated them.
The investigation is being carried out by Police Inspector Arun Thorat under the supervision of AEC In-charge Officer Ghanshyam Nair and the guidance of DCP Raj Tilak Roushan.
Further investigation in the case is underway.