Mumbai: Conman held from Kerala for duping Mira Road woman of Rs 1.92 crore

The Mira Road police Wednesday arrested the kingpin of a gang that had cheated a 67-year-old woman to the tune of Rs. 1.92 crore, initially under the pretext of arranging rituals to treat her mentally-ill son and later by offering several other lucrative schemes.

A team led by API Hanif Shaikh under the instructions of Senior Police Inspector Vijaysingh Bagal apprehended the prime accused identified as Baddrudin Munir (42) from a village in Kerala.

The local police provided the needed help to arrest the culprit. However, Munir’s ten accomplices including his wife and son are still at large.

The action followed in response to a complaint registered by an elderly complainant who stays in the Beverly Park area of Mira Road with her 35-year-old son who is suffering from mental illness.

The complainant came into contact with Munir on a social networking site platform. After learning about the medical condition of her son, Munir offered to help out by arranging a tantric for performing rituals for treatment.

Munir went on to introduce the woman to his wife, son and several other people who fleeced more than Rs. 1.92 crore from her under various false pretexts including treatment, buying a hotel and a villa in her hometown in Kerala.

Unaware of the evil designs of the conman, the complainant transferred money to nearly a dozen bank accounts. “The prime accused was arrested by our team with the help of our local counterparts in Kerala. People should not fall for superstitious solutions to any problems and also refrain from conducting financial transactions with strangers.” appealed Bagal.

While 11 people have been booked under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 120B (conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC, the arrested accused was remanded to police custody till 16 April when he was produced before the district sessions court on Wednesday.

Further investigations are underway.