Man dupes SoBo bizman posing as MLA, arrested

The city crime branch sleuths have arrested a 62-year-old man who allegedly posed as MLA Sardar Tarasingh to dupe a South Mumbai businessman.

The accused allegedly called the victim posing as Tarasingh, an acquaintance of the victim’s, and asked him to donate money to a needy person. After giving the money, when the victim called up Tarasingh to inform him about it, the latter told him that he’d never called him. The victim then lodged a police complaint.

The accused, Dhanbir Singh Sohansingh Khurana, is a scrap dealer and native of Uttar Pradesh.

Police sources said that on September 19 around 1.30pm, the victim got the call when he was at his shop in the DB Marg area. According to the victim, the caller identified himself as Sardar Tarasingh. “His voice was so similar to Tarasingh’s that I didn’t suspect anything at all,” the victim told the police in his statement.

An officer said, “Khurana (as Tarasingh) told the victim that a relative of a man known to him is unwell and in need of financial help. Khurana said he’d already given this person money and told the victim to give Rs1 lakh. However, since the victim didn’t have so much money, he agreed to give Rs21,000.”

Khurana told the victim that the person would be taking a train from Mumbai Central and asked him to give him the money at the railway station itself.

“The victim sent his employee Kalpesh Shah to deliver the money. Shah met the person, who identified himself as Rakesh, and gave him the money. The next day, the victim called up Tarasingh to tell him about having given the money. Tarasingh then told him that he’d never made any such call to him,” the officer said.

The victim lodged a complaint with the DB Marg police. The Ghatkopar unit of crime branch, too, registered the offence and started parallel investigations into the case. On Saturday, on receipt of specific information, crime branch officers nabbed Khurana, who is said to have confessed to the crime.

He was later handed over to the DB Marg police for further probe. The police have recovered two mobile phones from him and are on the lookout for his accomplice Rakesh.

For ‘needy’ person
The accused, Dhanbir Singh Sohansingh Khurana, allegedly called the victim posing as MLA Sardar Tarasingh, an acquaintance of the victim’s, and asked him to donate money to a needy person. After giving the money, when the victim called up Tarasingh, the latter told him that he’d never called him. The victim then lodged a police complaint.