Five persons from Sewri lodged a complaint against a group of individuals, including a peon in Mantralaya, for allegedly duping them of Rs 20 lakh under the pretext of facilitating jobs at the secretariat. In order to gain their trust and lure them into paying more money, the police said that one of the accused even posed as a secretary in the administrative department, interviewed them in a cabin at the Mantralaya and also handed appointment letters to the five complainants. According to the police, the complainant in the case is Monish Manohar Shinge and the case of cheating and forgery was registered on Friday. The police said that the complainant's father owns a garage in Sewri and Shinge helps his father in the garage. In July 2020, while the complainant and his father were working in the garage, they were introduced to one Sandeep Nyare by a common friend. "Nyare claimed that he knows people in the ministry and has helped many in securing jobs at the secretariat," said an officer, adding, "The accused also claimed that he has helped many people in setting up stalls at Aarey milk colony." Nyare went on to ask Shinge whether he or any of his family members were looking for a job. The complaint read, "At that time, as I, my wife Tripti Shinge, my sister Shraddha Shinge, cousin Amit Shinge and brother-in-law Akshay Shinde were unemployed and looking for a job, we requested them to help us." Later, Nyare introduced the five complainants to Bapurao Kisan Jadhav, who claimed to be working in the Mantralaya and said he could help them get a job there. The victims then paid Rs 9.5 lakh in cash to Nyare in the last week of August 2020. In the following month, the police said Nyare went to their garage and collected another Rs 50,000 from the complainant under the pretext of initiating the process of their recruitment. An officer said, "When there was no movement for the next few months, the complainant and his relatives reached out to Nyare and inquired. They even told him to return their money if he is not able to get them jobs." Subsequently, the five accused were taken to Mantralaya, where one of their accomplice identified as Nilesh Sathe posed as a secretary in the administrative department and interviewed them. The fourth accused in the case, Sachin Dolas, who was working as a clerk in Mantralaya, would help the other accused to enter and exit the premises. In order to gain their trust, the accused handed them forged appointment letters, the police said. While Shinge was appointed as a driver in the Revenue and Forest Department, his wife Trupti was given a fake appointment letter as an assistant in the Higher and Technical Education Department. Amit Shinge was given the job of an assistant in the agriculture department, Shraddha Shinge was given appointment as an assistant in the Revenue department and Akshay Shinde was appointed as a junior engineer in the Public Works Department, the complainant's statement read. "As the appointment letters had signatures of government officials, the victims fell for them and subsequently, paid Rs 10 lakh to the accused," said an officer. The five even underwent a medical test at a government hospital where fitness certificates were issued after which the accused requested them to wait for a few months because of Covid-19. While they were anxiously waiting for their call, the complainant came across a news in December 2022 that Dholas and Sathe were arrested by the Mumbai crime branch for duping many individuals. The five then contacted Nyare and started asking him to return their money, but when he started avoiding their calls, they reported the matter at Sewri police station and submitted a complaint in January. Senior police inspector Suresh Sahane of Sewri police station said, "The case was registered Friday and Nyare was arrested. We are trying to locate the other accused." The police suspect that the accused may have duped many more individuals using the same modus operandi.
