Man held for duping people under false promise of houses

A man has been arrested by the Thane police for allegedly duping several people to the tune of Rs 15 crore by promising flats to them under the chief minister's quota, police said on Friday.

The accused, Manoj Raghupati Singh alias Thakur (41), who was wanted in several cases of cheating in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, was apprehended by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Thane crime branch near the district court on Thursday, Assistant Police Inspector of Thane police's EOW, Shivraj Bendre, said.

During the probe, it came to light that the Mumbai police had been looking for him for the last couple of years and had issued a warrant against him.

Singh, a resident of Mira Road, has at least 10 cases of cheating registered against him in Uttar Pradesh and over a dozen similar cases in Maharashtra, the officer said.

According to the police, the accused has been duping people since 2004. He would promise the victims flats under the chief minister's quota in the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) buildings and other housing schemes.

Singh would show forged housing allotment letters and other documents to the people.

The accused had been arrested in 2017. However, he had secured a bail and promised to return the amount to the victims. However, he jumped the bail and was absconding ever since, police said.

Apart from this, Singh had also cheated several MBA aspirants and people seeking jobs in the railways.

Cases had been registered against him with the Kherwadi police station and the EOW of Mumbai police.

The Thane police has handed him over to the EOW of the Mumbai police for further action.