Unit two of EoW of the Navi Mumbai police arrested a 53-year-old man who allegedly cheated at least 64 persons on the pretext of giving flats at a cheap rate. However, after taking the booking amount, he fled and also shut down his Panvel booking office. He was offering flats at a cheap rate in Khalapur.
Police said that the accused had taken the booking amount between 2013 and 2015 and since then he was at large.
The accused identified as Santosh Kumar Jaiprakash Singh had opened a booking office for a project called Krishna Complex in Talegaon in Khalapur. According to an official from the Crime Branch, he had offered flats at a very economical price and also accepted the booking amounts. “Singh collected a total of Rs 67,10,150 as booking amount from at least 64 gullible buyers on the pretext of giving flats at the Krishna Complex project,” said the official. He added that he continued booking till 2015 and then suddenly fled after shutting down its office in Panvel.
When buyers who booked flat tried to reach him, he was not available. “Singh has not started any construction work at the said the plot in Khalapur and did not respond to buyers as well,” said the official. He added that the police were looking for him for a long time and based on a tip-off, we caught him.
A case under section 420 of IPC for cheating and Section 4(1) and 13 (1) of the Maharashtra Ownership of Flats (Regulation of the Promotion, Construction, Sale, Management and Transfer) Act, 1963 was already registered against him Panvel City police station on 29 October 2020. He was presented before the court where he was sent on police custody till November 6. Meanwhile, police have requested citizens to report if anyone had also booked flat at the same project.
