Government official duped under pretext of favourable transfer, land clearance
Vidhyasagar Chavan had reportedly paid Rs 18 lakh to the accused to get transferred from the state secretariat in Mumbai to Ambernath in Thane (Representational Image)
Police have booked four persons for allegedly cheating a Maharashtra government official on the pretext of getting him transferred and facilitating the clearance of a land plot.
According to the complainant, Vidhyasagar Chavan, he first met the accused in November 2017, during which the latter claimed to have good contacts in the Prime Minister’s Office and bureaucrats in Delhi.
Chavan, who worked in the state town planning department, then asked the accused to get him transferred from the state secretariat in Mumbai to Ambernath in Thane.
The accused allegedly sought Rs 28 lakh to get the job done. After negotiating the amount to Rs 18 lakh, Chavan paid the money but was never transferred.
In 2018, the officer approached the accused again to secure the NOC of land near the airport in Mumbai for which he allegedly demanded Rs 1 crore.
Chavan claimed the accused and his associates took him to a minister’s office in Delhi in March 2018 to make him believe that they would get his work done.
The complainant alleged that he made a part payment by selling his wife’s jewellery, but the accused and his aides provided him forged NOC documents.
He complained to the police in Thane on Tuesday following which the main accused, Dharmendra Singh, and his associates – Ramcharan Gohar, Mehboob Shaikh, and Mohan Jha – were booked under Indian Penal Code Section 420 (cheating).
However, no arrests have been made so far and further probe is underway.
