A 30-year-old man from Vasai in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, who posed as a builder and cheated prospective buyers, was arrested by the police.
Sumit Dube’s modus operandi was to advertise the sale of flats in new and old buildings in the Vasai region on social media platforms.
Police said Dube, a resident of Babola Naka in Vasai, advertised online under the names Two Star Realty Company and Mahalaxmi Builders and Developers.
He also advertised on online buying and selling websites by claiming to own several flats in Vasai and Nalasopara.
For those interested in new flats, he would show them under-construction properties of other builders and pass it off as his.
He would then collect money from the prospective buyers and vanish.
In case of homes in old buildings, he would claim to help buyers get flats at cheaper rates and collect money from the victims.
Achole police in Nalasopara (east) arrested Dube on October 23 after two prospective flat buyers approached cops after being cheated of Rs 6 lakhs each.
Dube gave his name as Sachin Patil. His accomplice Shubham Mishra has also been arrested. They are in police custody. They have over nine cases of cheating registered across police stations in Vasai region.