Maha: Two persons cheat shop owner of Rs 1.31 cr with payment slip with CM's 'signature'

Two persons have been booked in Palghar district for cheating a man of Rs 1.31 crore by showing him a payment slip of a government transaction with a forged signature of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, a police official said on Sunday.

Accused Jatin Pawar and Shubham Verma, residents of Nalasopara in Vasai taluka, are accused of cheating stationery shop owner Jignesh Gopani (50), the Valiv police station official said.

”The accused claimed they wanted to start a franchise of the state government’s e-portal and offered Gopani a partnership deal and sought Rs 1 lakh from him as fees. The duo extracted money on several occasions claiming the deal was coming through. They took Rs 1,31,75,104 from Gopani in all,” he said.

”On August 25, the accused gave Gopani a payment slip for the amounts paid for licence, permit and other fees to get the e-portal franchise. They told him it was issued by the state excise department. The payment slip, incidentally, had the name of Chief Eknath Shinde typed on it with his signature in English,” the official added.

Gopani found the slip with the CM’s ”signature” suspicious and approached police, after which a case was taken on Saturday night, the Valiv police station official said.

A case was registered for cheating and other offences under the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act provisions, and efforts are on to nab Pawar and Verma, he said.