Mumbai Crime Branch Arrests Business Partner Of Central Govt Official For Cheating Victim Of ₹5.7 Crore

Manoj Patel, the partner of Ashutosh Kumar Sahay, the regional director of the Plastics Export Promotion Council, has been arrested by the Mumbai crime branch. A case has been registered against Ashutosh Kumar Sahay, his wife Monika Sahay, Ashutosh's company partner Manoj Patel and manager Sanjay Pandey, out of which Manoj Patel has been arrested by the police.

Allegations of Impersonation and Deceit

A crime branch official said that the complainant Dadhich, a businessman from Rajasthan, in his statement to the police, alleged that Sahay presented himself as a senior IAS officer. Sahay claimed that he has good influence in government departments, and due to this, his company gets work on various SRA/MHADA projects and land development projects.

Sahay told Dadhich that he had land in the Kanjurmarg-Bhandup area and won his trust by showing the ownership documents, valuation certificate and undertaking of that land and got Dadhich to invest money in his projects.

Dadhich, in his complaint to the police, said that Sahay had claimed that anyone who invested money in his projects would double it in a year.

A police official said that Sahay fraudulently cheated the complainant of Rs 5.77 crore between June 1, 2017, and January 20, 2023, threatening to kill him if he protested. Sahay was earlier also booked in a similar cheating and bribery case by Delhi's Janakpuri Police and CBI(ACB) Delhi.

Previous Legal Troubles

The complainant had lodged a complaint in this matter at Versova Police Station, which is being investigated by the Mumbai crime branch. Senior officer of Mumbai crime branch told that during the investigation of this case, we found that Ashutosh Kumar Sahay who is a government official and presents himself as an IAS officer. He showed the complainant that there is a land in his name in Kanjurmarg - Bhandup area and a project is about to start there.

Sahay had approached the sessions court even before the FIR was registered in the matter, but his plea was rejected. Thereafter, Sahai approached the High Court for interim relief.

Police have booked Sahay and three others under sections 406, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 506 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and sections 3 and 4 of the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act.