Woman duped of

Mumbai: A 56-year-old woman working as a senior divisional clerk at the BEST Logistics Office in Chembur was allegedly duped of ₹60 lakh by a man under the pretext of providing her with a MHADA (Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority) flat in Charni Road East.
The complainant, M Pitale, lives in a rented flat in south Mumbai along with her son. Pitale met the accused, Pankaj Sawant, through her neighbour when she wanted to transfer the MHADA flat belonging to her father-in-law in her name.
The victim alleged that she was staying in a MHADA flat situated in Chira Bazar, south Mumbai, with her husband and the flat was owned by her father-in-law. She alleged that her husband died in March 2013, and after a few days, her father-in-law also died.
She reached out to the accused, who is a Mhada agent, who helped her transfer the home to her name, which made her trust the accused.
In 2020, she told him that she wanted to buy a new house. On several occasions, she met the accused in his office in Curry Road and Sawant showed a Mhada room in the CP Tank area, Sutar Galli claiming that the flat was in Mhada’s possession, and he would give her this flat. He allegedly demanded ₹5 lakh for paperwork from Mhada office. Trusting Sawant transferred ₹3 lakh in Sawant’s bank account from her bank through NEFT.
Sawant also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in December 2021 assuring her of the flat. From 2021 to November 2023, she alleged that by making false promises Sawant took ₹60.10 lakh from her, and she paid the amount from her bank account and her son’s bank account. The accused always said that the file was pending for signature of a senior Mhada official, as mentioned in the FIR.
When the victim contacted Sawant on the phone he gave her various reasons and later in November 2023 the complainant learnt that he had cheated many people with a similar modus operandi, so she was convinced that she was also duped and approached the Kalachowki police station in April 2024 and gave a written complaint. The police verified the facts and registered a case against Sawant under sections 406 and 420 of the IPC, said the officer.