Mumbai: Retired Police Officer Duped of ₹17.5 Lakh in Flat Purchase Scam; Four Accused Booked in Lalbaug

A shocking case of fraud has come to light in Lalbaug where a retired police officer, who dreamt of buying his own home after retirement, was allegedly cheated by four fraudsters in the name of selling him a flat.

Based on the complaint lodged by the officer, the Kalachowki Police have registered a case of criminal breach of trust and cheating against the accused — Pravin Roge, Santosh Chavan, Dipesh Pandirkar, and Abhishek Salunkhe. All four have been named as wanted accused, and police have launched a search operation to nab them.

According to the complaint, the victim, Vijay Deshmukh (60), a resident of Lalbaug, retired from Dongri Police Station in October 2022. After retirement, he received around ₹30–35 lakh in benefits and decided to buy a house with that money.

In August 2023, he came in contact with Pravin Roge, who introduced himself as a railway employee and claimed to work as a property dealer along with Santosh Chavan and Dipesh Pandirkar. The trio promised him a flat within his budget and showed him several properties in N. M. Joshi Marg, Lalbaug, and Bhoiwada areas.

Among them were two locked flats — Flat No. 1130 and 1131 in Srinivas Mill Tower, Hanuman Galli, Lower Parel. The accused told him that Flat No. 1131 belonged to their close friend Abhishek Salunkhe, who wanted to sell it. After negotiations, the deal was finalised at ₹43 lakh.

For this flat, Deshmukh paid ₹17.5 lakh in advance to Roge and his associates, with the assurance that the flat’s possession would be handed over by December 2023. He was shown photocopies of documents but never received the original papers.

When the accused started avoiding his calls, Deshmukh became suspicious and independently verified the flat ownership. To his shock, he discovered that Flat No. 1131 did not belong to Abhishek Salunkhe but to another mill worker.

Realising he had been cheated, Deshmukh demanded his money back. Initially, the accused refunded him ₹8 lakh, but misappropriated the remaining ₹9.5 lakh. Even the cheques given to him later bounced.

Finally, Deshmukh approached Kalachowki Police, who registered a case of cheating and breach of trust against all four accused. So far, no arrests have been made, and further investigation is underway.