24 October,2019 07:53 AM IST | Mumbai | Samiullah Khan
The accused Dharmendra Thakur
The Aarey police on Monday arrested a man for duping a retired Air India employee of R60 lakh on the pretext of investing in two shops in a mall. The accused allegedly influenced the investor by showing him photographs of himself with ministers and politicians.
The accused has been identified as Dharmendra Thakur. The other accused include his wife and two agents. According to police, a Mahim resident, 63-year-old Pramod Chandrakant Kaloowala, invested all the money which he got after retirement from Air India in 2014, on the insistence of a colleague, E Murlidharan, in a project allegedly to be constructed by Thakur. He was told that Thakur was constructing a shopping mall at Royal Palms in Aarey colony and it would be completed in 18 months. Kaloowala was allegedly told that if he invested in shops in the mall and paid the amount immediately, he would get a monthly rent from each of them of R10,000. The deal was finalised at R60 lakh and Kaloowala gave R51,000 as a token amount on the spot. He later paid the rest.
When the given period was over and the project did not start, Kaloowala demanded his money back. But Thakur allegedly refused to return it and threatened Kaloowala saying he was an influential person having contacts with ministers. Kaloowala approached the EOW and on the instructions of a joint commissioner, the police registered the case under various sections of the IPC and on Monday arrested Thakur. Kaloowala said, "Thakur, his wife, agent Sailesh Joshi and Murlidharan had showed me the project plan. I was assured the project would get completed in 18 months. But till date construction has not begun." "We have booked the accused under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (Criminal breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) and 34 (common intention) of IPC and arrested Thakur on Monday. The Bombay High Court granted three of them interim relief and rejected bail for Thakur. He was remanded in police custody," said an officer from Aarey police station.
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
