12 July,2026 11:59 AM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondent
Representational image. File pic
Police have registered a case against three individuals for allegedly cheating a 49-year-old housewife and seven other persons of Rs 16 lakh on the promise of securing jobs in the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) in Maharashtra, officials said on Sunday.
As reported by PTI, the alleged offence occurred over the last one year. Moreover, the accused allegedly collected Rs 15.95 lakh from the eight victims after assuring them of jobs in the TMC, but neither arranged the promised jobs nor returned the money, a police official said.
He also added, "When the victims sought either the promised employment or a refund of their money, the accused allegedly threatened them with dire consequences," as cited by PTI.
Based on the woman's complaint, the Thane Nagar police registered an FIR on July 10 against the accused under sections 318(4) (cheating), 316(2) (criminal breach of trust) and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the official said.
Officials, while briefing further about the investigation, said that no arrests have been made so far and further investigation is underway.
In a separate incident, the Mumbai Crime Branch's Cyber Police Station (North Region) has arrested six people in connection with an alleged online share trading fraud in which a Mumbai-based professional was cheated of more than Rs 1 crore through a suspected fake investment and IPO scheme operated via WhatsApp groups, trading applications and layered bank accounts.
According to the police, the arrests exposed a structured network that allegedly worked in multiple layers, from sourcing individuals willing to provide bank accounts to creating company-linked current accounts and routing money further up the chain. Of the six arrested, four were apprehended from Vadodara in Gujarat and two were arrested from Mumbai.
The case was registered after a 43-year-old investment professional from Mumbai approached the cyber police, alleging she had been lured into investing through what appeared to be a legitimate share trading platform. The victim first came across an online share trading advertisement while using WhatsApp earlier this year. After interacting with the advertisement, she was added to a WhatsApp group operating under the name âArjun Mehta Club - QUA Securities, UK'.
