A gas deal in Malad was allegedly dubbed as Rs 1 crore by fraudsters impersonating as senior Mumbai Police officials, including the Joint Commissioner of Police. The case has been registered at the Dindoshi Police Station.
The victim, identified as Rahul Gupta, was initially reported missing after the alleged fraud came to light. A search operation was launched, and he was later traced safely from Palghar district, said Mumbai Police, reported by the news agency IANS.
Preliminary reports suggest that the accused had contacted Gupta under the pretext of official police communication and managed to extort a substantial amount by misusing the identities of senior officers by threatening him with a fake murder case.
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They also gave him death threats and threatened him with an encounter and kidnapping his family. After losing one crore to fraudsters, he fled Malad when the fraudsters demanded more money from him. The police traced him after his wife filed a missing persons complaint and brought him to the police station, FPJ reported.
The Dindoshi Police have registered a case against four unidentified persons under Sections 308(4), 308(5), 308(6), and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
According to the complainant, Gujpta's family runs Bharat Petroleum and a gas agency in the Malad East area. The family at a gas godown at the Appapada area in Kurar Village. Four years back, one Pravin Khedekar met Gupta at the godown and asked him for donations every year for Ganeshotsav celebrations. Then Khedekar made several plans posing as a police officer and cheated Gupta of nearly Rs 80 lakh.