The Pune city police have booked two men for allegedly cheating a man and his relatives to the tune of Rs 28 lakh on the pretext of giving them permanent jobs and an electric works contract at the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Pune. The police have launched a search for two accused and are probing whether more people were cheated similarly.
The Sinhagad Road police registered the case based on the complaint of a 42-year-old engineer who runs a tour operator firm. The police identified the two suspects as Prasad Vaze and Parmeshwar Shinde. The cheating took place between May and October last year, they said.
Officials said the complainant had contacted Shinde earlier through his tour operator business. Shinde told the complainant that he knew Vaze, who had a lot of contacts at the NDA and could help anyone get a permanent job at the academy.
The accused promised jobs to the complainant’s wife and three relatives demanding Rs 8 lakh per person. They also promised the complainant an electric works contract at the NDA, asking Rs 3 lakh for it.
Officials said the complaint paid Rs 28 lakh to the accused, partly in cash and partly through online transfer. For months after the payment of the money, the accused neither gave any appointment letter nor any contract. After they became incommunicado, the complainant approached the police a few days ago.
Assistant Inspector Pravin Jadhav, who is investigating the case, said the accused were booked for cheating and criminal breach of trust.
