Woman, son held for cheating

A woman, her son and an associate have allegedly duped more than 200 people to the tune of Rs 2 crore by promising them Mhada flats in the city. The police arrested the trio from Mulund on Thursday.

Anuradha Jadhav, 66, posing as a Mhada officer, took money from the victims, promising them Mhada flats at discounted rates. Her son, Ajinkya, 25, and associate Ramesh Gangan, 66, helped her
by posing as Mhada agents.

The racket came to light in March 2009. Jayashree Nanaware, a 42-year-old housewife from Mazgaon, lodged a complaint at the Tardeo police station, stating that she and four of her relatives had been cheated of Rs15 lakh by Anuradha and her associates.

On September 5, 2007, each of them paid Rs3 lakh to Anuradha as token money for five Mhada flats, she told the cops. Anuradha gave them fake Mhada receipts.

DCP Suhas Varke formed a special team in April 2009 to nab Anuradha and her aides. Her cell phone was kept under observation. It was difficult to track her though, as she used 12 to 13 SIM cards. She kept moving from place to place —Belgaon, Pune, Satara, Wai, Karad, Panvel and Lonavla — to evade arrest.

Finally, the police got information that she was staying in a rented flat at Mulund. They moved in on Thursday, and made the arrest.
“We found Anuradha, Ajinkya and Ramesh at the Mulund flat on Thursday. They had been evading arrest for the past 10 months,” inspector Popat Khunte said.