Mumbai, May 21(The Hindu): The city police’s crime branch has arrested a 40-year-old man suspected to have swindled dozens of people to the tune of several crores of rupees in various cities in the country. While the police have already found three cases registered against him in Maharashtra in which he is alleged to have made more than Rs 3 crore, more such cases are expected to come to light during further investigations, officials said.

According to Crime Branch officials, the arrested accused identified as Karansingh Chauhan, 40, was arrested by Unit I of the Crime Branch on Thursday. The police said that Chauhan was picked up from his Malad residence after they received a tip-off that he was behind a string of con jobs in Mumbai and other cities.

“Chauhan was taken into custody and questioned about his actions over the last few months. He confessed that he had cheated the owner of a private firm in Andheri to the tune of Rs 50 lakh earlier this year. Inquires confirmed that an FIR was registered against him with Andheri police,” said DCP (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni.

Explaining Chauhan’s modus operandi, Mr Kulkarni said, “Chauhan would approach businessmen through mutual friends and tell them that he could help them secure quick and easy loans. He would take post-dated cheques from them for his ‘commission’ after the loan was passed, then change the dates and amounts on the cheques and then transfer money from the victims’ accounts to his own. We have found out that he has also cheated a builder from Pune to the tune of Rs 42.80 lakh and a businessman from Aurangabad to the tune of Rs 2.50 crore in this manner.”

Chauhan’s interrogation has revealed that he would keep changing his residence to avoid being apprehended, and never stayed in the same house for more than two months. Further, he would also keep changing cities, moving to a new city every few months and fleeing after cheating two or three victims. “In the last couple of years, Chauhan has stayed in several cities in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, and we have initiated inquiries in all these cities to find out if he has committed similar offences in these states. Rs 17.25 lakh in cash were seized from his current residence in Malad after his arrest,” Mr Kulkarni added.