The Ghatkopar police have arrested a 31-year-old ex-IT professional and a Navi-Mumbai resident for allegedly cheating people and fleeing away with their mobile phones.
According to the police, the suspect, identified as Rajkamal Tulsidas Tandiya, was working as an IT professional but was laid off from his workspace last year.
“He mainly approached the sellers who are based in Mumbai rather than the ones living near him in Navi Mumbai. He contacted them via the marketplace application OLX and talked to them via text. He showed interest in purchasing the mobile phone from them and asked them to come and meet him before finalizing the deal,” said a police official at Ghatkopar police station.
The final step of Tandiya’s duping is to call them in a random hospital where he showed up wearing a hair net, surgical mask and a stethoscope with formal attire, looking like a doctor. He addressed himself as a doctor, working in the same hospital.
“He then pretends to check the phone from the seller, then asks them to wait for some minutes, excusing himself by saying he wants to check with his wife before confirming the deal and paying the money. In his story, his wife is also a doctor in the same hospital. He then flees the scene slyly,” said the official, who added that a case similar to such a modus was also reported at Agripada Police station, after which Ghatkopar police got another complaint.
The police parallelly began investigating. In the case of Ghatkopar jurisdiction, the incident happened at Zynova Heart Hospital. The police managed to get his identification from the CCTV cameras in the hospital and its premises, meanwhile tracking him from the mobile application of OLX where he chatted with his victims (sellers). He was found in the Rabale area of Navi Mumbai, confirmed the police. He used five different mobiles and SIM cards to approach people, which were seized by the police from his residence, worth a total of Rs3.10 lakh.
A case has been registered against Tandiya under section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), of the Indian Penal Code. He was produced in court on Saturday where he was remanded to judicial custody, confirmed the police.
