A BMC employee from Mulund has fallen victim to a fraudulent scheme involving the promise of a low-cost MHADA apartment. The accused, posing as an MHADA official, allegedly offered the victim a flat in Mulund’s Gavanpada area for Rs22.7 lakh in 2021. The Navghar police have now launched a manhunt to trace the suspect.
The complainant and her husband, who is a BMC employee, met the accused, Jitendra More, through a mutual friend in 2018. More claimed to be a MHADA official. He said he operated an agency called Hridyan Enterprises, which he falsely asserted was approved by MHADA to provide housing to homebuyers. He promised the complainant’s family an apartment through the MHADA lottery of 2018, initially quoting a price of Rs31 lakh. After the complainant expressed interest, they planned to apply for a home loan. However, More advised against it, offering to reduce the price to Rs22.9 lakh instead.
From March 2021 to September 2022, the complainant paid Rs22.75 lakh to More, expecting the apartment to be handed over as promised. More claimed that the flat was being prepared in a MHADA building in Gavanpada, Mulund (East). However, after months of waiting and receiving no updates, the complainant visited the site, only to discover that the apartment had already been allotted to another family by MHADA.
When confronted, More admitted his wrongdoing and promised to repay the amount. Between 2022 and 2023, he issued six cheques to the complainant, all bouncing due to insufficient funds. The Navghar police have booked More, a resident of Kadampada on Dr RP Road in Mulund (West), under charge of cheating.
