MUMBAI: A Bandra court in Mumbai on Saturday sent the mother-daughter duo — who were arrested in a fraud case — to the two-day police custody.
The directors of Shree Tirupati Balaji Marine Enterprises had been arrested for allegedly siphoning off Rs 1.25 crore from a Andheri-based businessman in June 2020 after promising to build and deliver a tug boat and a barge.
The case was registered in October 2020 with the Andheri police after the victim Sushant Shelatkar (39) learnt from another person that he had bought the same tub boat that the accused had shown to him.
The case was registered after Shelatkar met the home minister Anil Deshmukh who directed DCP (Zone X) Mahesh Reddy to initiate action in the case.
The accused — mother Raghini Khandelwal (58) and daughter Mansi (24) — were arrested from their Kalyan residence after the Andheri police kept accused Mansi’s mobile SIM on tracking mode.
“We found Mansi was using the SIM that was procured in the name of one Kiran Panara from Andheri (East). However, technical support helped us to locate their whereabouts,” said a police officer.
Andheri police senior inspector Vijay Belge said the mother-daughter duo is in police custody till February 15.
They were booked for cheating and criminal breach of trust.
“There are cases against the duo in Kalyan and Andheri. We are collecting details of the total number of people who fell victim to Khandelwal’s modus operandi. They used to lure people by offering high returns in investing in the share in their shipbuilding yard but never paid money. Similarly, they used to collect money on the pretext of building vessels but never delivered,” said Belge.
Shelatkar’s wife Padma (who is a lawyer) said, “The mother-daughter duo has duped my husband and threatened him with dire consequences and even tried to frame victims. There is a case registered against Mansi who forged documents of the company partner Dash and got him out from the company and took over the charge without his knowledge.”
The investigators also found out that the accused’s daughter has violated the quarantine rule after flying from Dubai to Mumbai on January 1 and a case has been registered with the Sahar police.