A 24-year-old history-sheeter has been arrested for allegedly mimicking the voice of BJP MLA Ashish Shelar's personal assistant (PA), deceiving several advocates and duping the relatives of jail inmates. The accused, Aamin Irfan Bendrekar, a Nalasopara resident, has been named in 14 cheating cases registered against him at various police stations in Mumbai.
According to the Bandra police, Advocates Vijendra Roy, Yasmin Wankhede, among others, approached Shelar, informing that they had been contacted by one Sharma, who claimed to be the MLA's PA and Mantralaya secretary. They further said that the impersonator claimed that the government planned to release some prisoners due to overcrowding in jails. On this pretext, he sought information from advocates about their clients lodged in jail and their relatives. The aggrieved said that they trusted the con as he sounded like Shelar's PA and shared the information.
Bendrekar then allegedly contacted the relative of an accused, again posing as Shelar's PA, and informed them that the inmate had fallen in prison and needed money for medical treatment. The relative paid Rs8,000 to the accused through their lawyer, Arfin, said FIR, adding that Bendrekar used a similar scheme to dupe others. However, the lawyers gradually grew suspicious and finally approached Shelar.
Based on the complaint of MLA's actual PA, Navnath Satpute, a case was initially filed against an unidentified individual under sections 204 (impersonation of a public servant), 318 (cheating), 319 (cheating by impersonation) and 356 (defamation) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
