The Economic Offences Wing of Unit I of the Navi Mumbai Police recently arrested a man, who had been wanted for a year-and-a-half from Taloja.
The accused, Raghunath Karande (35), has been accused of cheating around 50 people of ₹1.5 crore. While five of his accomplices had been arrested earlier, Mr. Karande, the mastermind, had been absconding. “He kept moving from one location to the other in the State and we were tipped off that he had moved to Taloja and was planning to con more people,” assistant police inspector Anand Shahane said.
On January 15, Mr. Shahane and police constable Ashok Kankhare travelled to Kamadhenu society in Sector 9 to arrest Mr. Karande, and found him sitting on the watchman’s chair. As the policemen confronted the accused, his wife interfered and blocked the police so he could flee. However, Mr. Karande tripped and fell after a short distance and the police grabbed him. This time, he assaulted the personnel and got his shirt torn off so he could run again. Eventually, Mr. Karande was caught with the help of the public.
“The accused would pose as real estate agents of a registered company and take the victims to buildings in Ulwe where apartments were ready for possession. They told people that due to financial crisis, flats worth ₹55 lakh were being sold at ₹35 lakh,” Mr. Shahane said. The accused would also fool the watchman of the building by saying that they had been sent by the builder.
Besides Navi Mumbai, Mr. Karande is also wanted by the Pune city, Pune rural and Thane city police. Since he assaulted the officials, he has now also been booked under Section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code. Mr. Karande is in police custody till January 27.
