Mumbai: The Borivali police have arrested a 40-year-old man, Bherudas Baludas Vaishnav, for allegedly duping a local jeweller of Rs 31.5 lakh by using forged documents related to a gold loan. His accomplice, Shrikant Shankar Chittapillai (34), who is a director of a credit cooperative society in Bhivandi, remains absconding.
According to police, Vaishnav and Chittapillai created fake documents to show that Vaishnav had taken a Rs 31.5 lakh loan by pledging 562 grams of gold, according to a Hindustan Times report.
On June 30, Vaishnav contacted jeweller Arjun Bothmal Singhvi of Mahavir Jewellers, Borivali, and convinced him using the forged documents sent via WhatsApp to clear the supposed loan amount to recover the gold, as reported.
On July 2, Vaishnav was accompanied to the credit society by Singhvi’s associate. The director of the society, Chittapillai, confirmed Vaishnav's loan. After further discussions, Singhvi transferred the money directly to Vaishnav using the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) method, which is a system for high-value transactions between banks in India.
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However, when Vaishnav failed to deliver the gold and both accused began ignoring Singhvi’s calls, he realised he had been cheated and lodged a complaint with the Borivali police. Police are now investigating whether the duo has pulled off similar frauds in the past.
According to the HT report, the Borivali police officer mentioned that, "We have arrested Vaishnav from his house in Borivali and are tracing Chittapillai as he was responsible for presenting fake documents to the complainant." The police have charged the duo with fraud and misappropriation under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
