Conman arrested for cheating woman of jewellery worth Rs 50,000

Navi Mumbai: A man was arrested for cheating a woman of gold jewellery worth Rs 50,000 on the pretext of helping her conceive a child by performing rituals, at Koparkhairane on Thursday.

 The accused had fled with her valuables on Monday, Koparkhairane police said.

 The woman, Vaishnavi Baraskar, 32, a medical distributor, stays with her husband Sujeet, a BEST bus driver. She was alone at home on Monday when the accused showed up at her apartment. He introduced himself as Nitin Jadhav. She recognized him as he had visited their house before, Baraskar told police.

Police said the couple had been trying to conceive a child with no luck. Jadhav told the woman that he knows a temple where one can perform puja on gold ornaments to be blessed with a child, said police. Baraskar agreed to it and the accused told her he would need at least 2 tolas of gold for the puja to be successful. The woman then gave him her mangalsutra and a pendant total worth Rs 50,000.

The accused then left on the pretext of going to the temple to perform the puja. He also warned her against telling anyone about it as it was necessary for the success of the ritual.

After he did not return for a while, the woman called him on the phone and he assured her that he is on the way back. Then he switched off his phone.

“After receiving the complaint, we have arrested the accused on Thursday.  He used to roam around the area looking to cheat people in a similar way. We are looking for his antecedents,” said senior inspector at Koparkhairane police station, Suryakant Jagdale.