A 52-year-old man, who had posed as a government official and knocked out Rs 30.44 lakh from a dentist, was arrested on Sunday.Anees Arnalkar had offered flats under the Urban Land Ceiling (ULC) scheme to the dentist, Shaunak Thakkar. Borivli police said Arnalkar used to commute in a car with a red beacon, carried visiting cards and frequently travelled by air.
A common acquaintance had introduced Thakkar to Arnalkar in 2010. Thakkar’s father, also a doctor, had a clinic in Oshiwara. The father-son duo was loking to buy property in Vile Parle for another clinic.
“Arnalkar introduced himself as a member of the Urban Development Advisory Board. He met the father-son duo at a Borivli restaurant in 2010 where he promised to help them procure a flat under the ULC scheme at a reasonable cost. He charged them Rs 30.44 lakh for it,” said a police official. Later, Thakkar’s father passed away.
Arnalkar had handed Thakkar a government receipt for the payment he made. But when the deal did not materialize for years, Thakkar contacted Arnalkar. The latter handed him three cheques as a refund. But the cheques bounced. Thakkar then approached the Borivli police. After a preliminary probe, the police lodged an FIR.
“Arnalkar had moved out of his rented flat and locked up his other properties in Borivli. We kept tabs on his cellphone location. On Sunday, we got information that he was to come to Santa Cruz. A trap was laid and he was nabbed,” a senior official said. A local court has remanded him in police custody till May 18.
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