The Vile Parle Police have arrested the owner of a hotel chain named 'Idli Guru' for allegedly duping a businessman by luring him with a fake franchise offer. The accused has been identified as Kartik Babu Shetty, who had been absconding for the past 10 months after a case of fraud was registered against him. He is currently in police custody in connection with the same case.
According to the police, the businessman, Ravi Kamleshwar Pujari, a resident of Vile Parle, had visited the Versova-Yari Road area in Andheri with his wife Deepa in November 2023. During the visit, the couple noticed a newly opened hotel named 'Idli Guru' and stopped there for breakfast. Impressed by the taste and quality of the food, Pujari collected the contact details of the hotel owner from the manager.
A few days later, Pujari contacted Kartik Shetty and expressed his interest in acquiring the franchise rights of 'Idli Guru' to start his own hotel business. Kartik assured him that he would be visiting Mumbai soon and they could discuss the matter in detail.
When Kartik met Pujari in Mumbai, he introduced himself as a resident of Bangalore. He then quoted an amount of Rs 33.60 lakh for providing the franchise, which included Rs 20 lakh as franchise fees, Rs 3.60 lakh for GST, and Rs 10 lakh for the customer ID outlet setup.
After detailed discussions, Pujari agreed to the offer, and both parties signed an agreement. As per the contract, Pujari was to handle the expenses for rent, electricity bills, and employee salaries, while the business profits were to be split — 80% for Kartik and 20% for Pujari.
Following the agreement, Pujari rented a place on Ram Mandir Road in Vile Parle’s Khaugalli area for the hotel, paying a monthly rent of Rs 76,000 and depositing Rs 3.5 lakh as security. He also transferred Rs 23.60 lakh to Kartik as agreed. However, Kartik failed to start the hotel within the stipulated time of 60 days and kept giving excuses when questioned.
When the hotel did not materialize, Pujari terminated the agreement and demanded a refund, but Kartik refused to return the money. Realizing he had been cheated, Pujari lodged a complaint with Vile Parle Police.
After verifying the complaint, police registered a case of fraud against Kartik, who had been on the run for 10 months. On Saturday, police finally succeeded in arresting him. During interrogation, it was revealed that Kartik had duped several other businessmen using a similar franchise scam under the name 'Idli Guru'.
The police are now planning to take him into custody for further investigation into his involvement in other fraud cases. Kartik was produced before the court, which remanded him to police custody.