Mumbai police book Nagpur-based YouTuber brothers, 2 real estate agents for ‘defrauding’ city builder of more than Rs 1 crore

The four allegedly duped Khan under the pretext of selling him 13 flats in a Bhiwandi-based housing project.

According to the police, the Shah brothers met Khan in March and told him that Purab Darda and Saurabh Darda were looking for a businessman who could buy under-construction flats from them in bulk in Bhiwandi under the Thane district.

The Shah brothers allegedly told Khan that the Darda brothers would sell the flats at a cheaper rate and he would make a good profit after the construction was completed.

Khan then held a meeting with the four in Iklaq Shah’s office in Bhandup.

“In the meeting, Purab and Saurabh claimed to be YouTubers who post informative videos regarding investment guidance. Purab Darda showed Khan a 7/12 utara (land ownership paper), maps, and other documents of the said piece of land and the project in Bhiwandi…” the FIR noted.

Purab Darda offered to sell the flats to Khan at half rate (Rs 2,000 per square feet) against the going rate of Rs 4,000 per square feet.

Iklaq Shah managed to get Khan to buy 13 residential units in the project, said a police source.

Between April 2023 and March 2024, Khan paid Rs 1.3 crore to the accused persons, and a memorandum of understanding was also signed between them. Some part of the payment was done in cash, the police added.

However, when the sellers failed to deliver the flats on time, Khan confronted Iklaq Shah and the others, who claimed that work could not be started as some permissions for the project were yet to be acquired.

Khan then found out that the land ownership papers the accused had shown him were bogus and the land belonged to some other person, another police source said.

Khan demanded his money be refunded immediately, but the four did not refund any money and allegedly “misused the funds for wrongful self-gain,” the complaint stated.

The police have booked the four accused under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

“The allegations against the Darda brothers are not proven yet. It’s possible that the two accused agents may have lied and defrauded them as well,” a police source added.