A Borivali-based software consultant was duped of Rs 1 crore on the pretext of buying a flat for Rs 2.5 crore, which was not even registered in the name of the owner. The complainant had paid 40 per cent of the amount in a series of post-dated cheques, but when the owners were reluctant to register the flat in the complainant's name, it was revealed that the owners had never registered the property against their own name.
According to the Dahisar Police, the case was registered earlier this week, when complainant Girish Mittal, told police that he was cheated. Mittal was searching for a house in June 2018. He saw a spacious house at Ambrosia Devipada, which was valued at Rs 2.5 crore. Since Mittal liked the property, he gave a token amount of Rs 5 lakh. Over a week passed, the owners of the desired flat, Sunita and Murari Agarwal visited Mittal and asked him to pay Rs 1 crore before going ahead with the registration process. Accordingly, Mittal paid Rs 99.21 lakh in a series of post-dated cheques until March 2019.
After the desired amount was paid, Mittal started asking Sunita and Murari Agarwal to complete the registration process, but the latter always came up with an excuse to do the same and distanced themselves from the deal. After Mittal constantly asked them to go ahead with the registration, the Agarwals demanded an extra Rs 25 lakh to complete the process or cancel the agreement, a police officer said.
Doubting the couple's intentions, Mittal ran a background check on the Agarwal house, where he realised that the house was never registered under their name. Realising he was duped, he immediately approached the police and lodged a complaint at the Dahisar Police Station. The police have booked the Agarwal family under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for cheating.