Thane cloth merchant duped of over Rs 1 crore by four of family from Gujarat

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Four members of a family from Gujarat allegedly cheated a powerloom owner and merchant from Bhiwandi in Maharashtra's Thane district of Rs 1.06 crore, police said on Wednesday.

The incident occurred between October 2023 and February this year, they said.

Based on a complaint filed by the 45-year-old victim, the police have registered a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention), they said.

The accused were identified as Popatlal Khaini, his two sons Shailesh and Manoj along with a woman family member, a police official said.

This family purchased a large quantity of grey cloth from the victim, but failed to pay Rs 1,06,30,000 to him despite repeated reminders from his side, senior inspector Mahadeo Kumbhar of Bhiwandi town police station said.

Meanwhile, police has registered an FIR against a father-son duo under the bonded labour system Act for allegedly confining a family of six to their brick kiln in Palghar district, an official said on Wednesday.

No arrest has been made in the case which was registered on Tuesday against Pundalik Patil and his son Chetan Patil, both residents of Kelthan village in Wada taluka.

A complaint was lodged by a 36-year-old woman alleging that the Patils had employed her family of six, including her husband and four children, at their brick kiln and kept them confined, a police spokesman said.

The FIR was registered under sections 374 (unlawful compulsory labour), 370 (3) (trafficking of more than one person) of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, he said.

The complainant stated that she escaped on March 3 and approached district officials seeking help.

A similar incident of harassment of a tribal woman from neighbouring Raigad district by a brick kiln owner based in Ahmednagar district in western Maharashtra has come to light.

The victim woman, a resident of Raigad district, claimed she was forced to work despite her pregnancy, leading to miscarriage, the official said.

Police have registered an FIR and conducting the investigation. (With inputs from PTI)