Mumbai Police have arrested a key wanted Accused in a ₹79 lakh cheating case involving a fake railway tender scam. The accused, identified as Arvind kumar Muralidhar Srivastava, a resident of Ghaziabad in Delhi, was nabbed by the Charkop Police Station after being on the run for nine months. He is currently in police custody and is being interrogated.
According to police, Srivastava was absconding since the registration of the case. His arrest comes after sustained efforts by the police team. Three other co-accused in the case have been identified as Santosh kumar Srivastava, Malik alias Sanjay Jain, and Vivek Srivastava. Police suspect that the gang may have committed similar frauds in the name of government tenders.
The complainant, Vinod kumar Shukla, a documentary filmmaker from Ghatkopar, had known Santosh kumar for over 20 years. Santosh kumar allegedly introduced him to his brother Arvind kumar during a music album shoot in Trimbakeshwar, Nashik.
In February 2020, Santosh kumar convinced Shukla that Arvind kumar had strong connections with influential people's and government officials in Delhi. He claimed that through these contacts, they could secure lucrative railway tenders and government land deals.
The accused allegedly promised that through Vivek Srivastava, a government official, they could obtain long-term lease rights (49 or 99 years) for prime land in Mumbai under the Rail Land Development Authority. They also lured the victim with assurances of securing contracts to supply items like blankets, bedsheets, pillows, and other goods to the railways.
Believing the proposal, Shukla, along with his partners, decided to invest. Initially, ₹12 lakh was paid for vendor registration. Over the next few months, payments were made via bank transfers and cash, totaling ₹95.5 lakh to the accused.
In return, the accused provided a supposed railway tender order receipt and assured that the original documents would be delivered within two days. However, they failed to provide any authentic documents and kept giving excuses.
Upon verification, the complainant discovered that the tender receipt was fake.
After repeated demands, the accused returned ₹16 lakh, but allegedly misappropriated the remaining ₹79.5 lakh, cheating the complainant and his partners.
A complaint was initially filed at Kurla Police Station but was later transferred to Charkop Police Station, as most financial transactions had taken place in Kandivali.
After registering the FIR against all four accused, police launched a search operation. Recently, Arvind kumar Srivastava was detained and, during interrogation, confessed to committing the fraud with the intention to cheat.
Police believe the gang targeted victims by falsely claiming high-level connections in Delhi and promising large government tenders. Investigations are ongoing, and officials suspect more victims and similar fraud cases may come to light during further interrogation.