Maha: Doctor duped of Rs 1.5 lakh by two conmen posing as BMC officials

Mumbai: In an alleged fraud case, the Shivaji Park Police have booked two men for cheating a Dadar-based doctor and extorting Rs 1.5 lakhs from him by claiming to be officials of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).  

The duo, pretending to be BMC officials, fraudulently told the doctor that he had done illegal renovation at his house, and they took the money from him by threatening to take action against him for the illegal construction.

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The doctor, who is a resident of Ranade Road in Dadar (West) and has a clinic in Mahim, received a call on 20th April 2023. Another man was speaking on the other side, claiming to be a BMC official. The man told the doctor that they had come to serve him a notice for illegal construction and told him to rush home. 

When the doctor reached home, he found two men with ID cards waiting for him. The duo, claiming to be officials from BMC’s G North ward office, threatened of demolishing the renovated parts of his house if he failed to pay a fine of Rs 10 lakhs. The duo asked the doctor to call him on a certain number to speak to their superior. 

In his statement, the doctor told the police, "The man told me that the renovation I had started in my house recently was illegal and that he had come to serve me a notice. He further said I would have to pay Rs 10 lakh as a penalty. I appealed to them to not take action and they asked me to come home as soon as possible." 

Speaking to Mid-day, an officer from Shivaji Park police station said, "The supposed superior told the victim that he could get out of paying the fine by just paying Rs 2.5 lakh to the men at his house. The victim said he did not have that much money and a ‘settlement’ was ultimately reached at Rs 1.5 lakh. The victim took the duo to his clinic and gave them the cash. The men told him that the ward officer and other civic officials would also get a cut, and he would not be bothered henceforth." 

After getting suspicious of the duo, the doctor cross-checked the information with some people he knew from the BMC by sharing a Closed Circuit Television camera footage of the duo he got from his clinic. His sources denied knowing the men, following which the doctor realized he was cheated. 

He subsequently filed a complaint against unknown persons at Shivaji Park Police Station, after which the police registered an FIR against the duo under sections 170 (impersonating a public servant), 384 (extortion) and 34 (act committed in furtherance of common intention) under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The police are currently searching for the fraudsters. 

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