A 31-year-old private employee from Badlapur on Monday lodged a complaint with Kalachowkie police, alleging that he was duped of Rs 22.54 lakh by a Thane man who claimed to have contacts in Mantralaya and promised him and his brother government jobs.
The accused, identified as Nadeem Ibrahim Khedkar, allegedly used an elaborate ruse spanning over six months (August 25, 2023, to February 26, 2024), complete with digital payment trails and even a fake “appointment visit” to the Mantralaya to make his scheme appear authentic. Police said that Ramesh (name changed) was introduced to the accused through a former colleague, Reshma (name changed).
Ramesh told the police that Reshma called him in August 2023, mentioning that Khedkar had contacts in the state secretariat and could help secure a government job. Following up on that, Ramesh called Khedkar, who introduced himself as someone connected to senior officials in the Mantralaya and promised a post as a telephone operator. According to Ramesh, he made dozens of Google Pay transfers ranging from a few thousand rupees to over Rs 1.47 lakh at a time, all to Khedkar’s number.
Ramesh said that Khedkar demanded Rs 5000 as an initial “form fee”, and over the next few days, he continued to invent official-sounding reasons to extract money — Rs 2000 for a “process fee”, Rs 9312 for “registration”, Rs 11,700 for a “medical test”, Rs 5199 for an “ID card”, Rs 15,000 for “Maharashtra Board fees”, and Rs 22,000 supposedly for “senior officer approval”. By the end of February 2024, the total amount transferred stood at Rs22,54,201.
Ramesh said the accused also promised a clerical job for his younger brother and began collecting even larger sums. To strengthen his credibility, the accused even took the brothers to the Mantralaya on April 26, 2024, handed them a sealed envelope containing a fake “service book”, diary, key, and ID lace, and told them their joining letters were under process. After that, Khedkar stopped responding to calls.
Police said they have filed a case under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC. The search for the accused has begun, police said, adding that an investigation is underway. Police also suspect that, like Ramesh, many more victims may have been duped by the accused.
When asked why he took so long to register a complaint, Ramesh said that he was waiting and thinking that the accused would contact him again. However, after so many months, “When he began avoiding me, I realised I had been cheated,” Ramesh told police. The fraud occurred prior to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) coming into force on July 1, 2024, prompting the application of sections of the Indian Penal Code.
How victim was convinced
>>The accused posed as a Mantralaya insider, speaking confidently about ‘insider’ things
>> Demanded payments for seemingly authentic procedures — form fee, registration, medical test, PF, file forwarding charges, and even officer approvals.
>>Collected money in small instalments through Google Pay.
>>Even took the victim to Mantralaya, handed him a sealed envelope containing a fake service book, ID lace, and diary to keep illusion.
>>Maintained contact throughout, using bureaucratic language.
