Engineering students bite film bait, robbed

Pushkar Babre, 36, is fluent in Marathi, Hindi and English. A master in arts, he used his gift of gab to con two engineering students. Saying that he had contacts in the film industry, he promised them roles in films and ran away with their laptops and phones.

He was arrested by the Dombivli Government Railway Police (GRP) on Monday.
“We arrested Babre under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating). He was remanded in police custody till June 19,” said Mahesh Bagve, senior police inspector of Dombivli GRP.

Residents of Dombivli, engineering students Dinesh Jadhav, 18, and Harshal Kadam, 18, met Babre in a local train on June 6. With his smooth talk, Babre convinced them he could give them roles in films. He told them that if they wanted to work in films, they should meet him with their laptops and mobiles phones which have their photos.

The two met Babre on June 13 at Mumbai Central. He told them to first freshen up at a public toilet and then he would take them to a film studio for a screen test. The duo handed over their laptops and mobile phones to him before going inside the toilet.

When they came out, Babre was nowhere to be seen. They realised that they had been cheated and lodged a complaint at Dombivli GRP.

The police kept tracking the mobile phones. On June 17, it showed that Babre was in Nalasopara. The police team arrested him there. A resident of Dahanu, Babre had committed similar offence in Aurangabad, added Bagve. The police recovered three laptops and two mobile phones from him.