Mumbai couple cheated of Rs 30 lakh in fraudulent SRA housing deal in Amboli

A Mumbaibased coupleallegedly lost more than Rs 30 lakh after being lured into purchasing what they believed was an affordable Slum Rehabilitation Authority SRA flat in Amboli police saidAccording to investigators the fraud was carefully planned over several months using forged documents fake registration formalities and access to an actual flat inside an SRA building to convince the victims that the deal was genuineDN Nagar Police have arrested Rahul Rajendra Tiwari one of the main accused in the case after he allegedly remained absconding for nearly a monthPolice said the court has remanded him to police custody while two other accused mdash Mahesh Tiwari and Mahesh Karande mdash are currently abscondingCouple was searching for affordable housingOfficials said complainant Tayamma Mallesh Dhangar and her husband who works at a travel firm had been searching for an affordable home in Mumbai due to rising property pricesThe couple was reportedly looking for lowcost SRA or MHADA housing in the Andheri area when they came into contact with the accused through relativesThe accused allegedly claimed they could arrange discounted SRA flats through their contactsHotel meetings fake documentsIn March 2025 the accused allegedly called the couple to a hotel in Goregaon and offered them a flat at Om Sai SRA Cooperative Housing Society on Kaiser Road in AmboliPolice said the deal was finalised at Rs 45 lakh and notarised papers were prepared to make the transaction appear legalBelieving the documents to be genuine the couple allegedly paid Rs 10 lakh as token moneyReal flat used to gain trustInvestigators said the accused later took the victims to Flat No 1604 on the 16th floor of the SRA buildingThe couple inspected the flat and were convinced that the property and documents were authenticPolice said the accused deliberately used a real flat inside an existing SRA building to gain the victimsrsquo confidence The couple later paid another Rs 2050 lakh in instalmentsFake registration and biometricAccording to police the accused also staged a fake registration process to further convince the victimsIn July 2025 the couple was allegedly called for biometric formalities related to flat registration However they were later told that the process could not be completed because of server issuesIn September Mahesh Karande was allegedly introduced as the person handling the biometric and documentation processA few days later the accused allegedly handed over flat keys and documents making the victims believe that possession had been completedThe fraud was exposed when the couple visited the property again and found the flat sealed from outsideSuspicious of foul play they approached the SRA office to verify the documents and allegedly discovered that all the papers connected to the transaction were forgedPolice said the couple had been cheated of Rs 3050 lakh through the fake property dealPolice probe larger fraud anglePolice are now investigating whether the accused used the same method to target other homebuyers searching for affordable SRA or MHADA housingInvestigators are also probing how the accused gained access to the flat shown to the victims and whether vacant or disputed rehabilitation units were being misused in similar fraudulent dealsFurther investigation is underway