Man posing as MP’s PA defrauds Bademiya’s owner worth Rs 11 lakh
Man posing as MP’s PA defrauds Bademiya’s owner worth Rs 11 lakh
An official stated that the crime branch arrested him and will investigate the matter further.
Date: August 7, 2024
A fraudster impersonating as the personal assistant to an MP defrauded Jamal Shaikh, who is the owner of renowned restaurant Bademiya in SoBo, with over Rs 11 lakh.
The cheating included not paying for food ordered for hundreds of MP’s party workers, as claimed by the conman. He also promised a secured admission for his daughter at the Government Law College (GLC).
On Tuesday evening, August 6, Kalachowki police arrested Suraj Kalav and registered four cheating cases against him, which includes impersonating a public servant and criminal breach of trust. Police have ruled out any politician’s involvement in the case.
According to Shaikh’s complaint, he had received a call on July 2 from Suraj, who introduced himself as the personal assistant to an MP and placed an order for food for 200 party workers as part of a celebration for winning the Lok Sabha election. He placed an order for 200 gulab jamuns and vegetarian and non-vegetarian biryani for the party workers. Additionally, he requested vegetarian and non-vegetarian food for 40 people to be delivered to one Akhilesh in Currey Road. The total bill was around Rs 2 lakh, police said.
Suraj had placed orders with the restaurant in the past too but had paid, police said.
He boasted about connections with politicians, promised Shaikh’s daughter admission to GLC and collected Rs 9.27 lakh in exchange.
Shaikh’s daughter, who was studying law at a private college in Bandra, wanted admission to GLC in Churchgate which was close to her residence. Suraj assured him that he would discuss the matter with his bosses and make it happen, police said.
In the last week of July, Suraj called Shaikh and informed him that he would need to pay a donation for the admission, to which Shaikh agreed. Initially, on the pretext of paying college fees, he collected Rs 49,000. Later, he collected Rs 3 lakh allegedly to pay for donations, extra fees, registration, etc and Rs 5 lakh for the trustees. In all, he took Rs 9.27 lakh and cheated him.
An official stated that the crime branch arrested him and will investigate what he did with the food.
