MP: Unidentified man cheats people on pretext of providing homes under PMAY, probe underway

Indore, March 29
The Madhya Pradesh Police is in the search of an unidentified person, who allegedly cheated more than a dozen people in Indore, on the pretext of providing homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) at minimum price, officials said.

Police swung into action after receiving a complaint from an Indore-based resident identified as Chandan Pathak, who alleged that one of his room partners, took money from people on the pretext of providing homes and now left his room all of a sudden.

In his complaint, Pathak told the police that he shared room with a person, who identifies himself as Deepak (fake name), for more than three to four months in Indore and collected around Rs 82 lakh from different people after convincing them to provide homes under the PMAY, the Indore police said.

What surprised more the police is that the complainant shared his bank account with the accused.

More than a dozen people have deposited money as advance payment for getting homes and around Rs 82 lakh were collected.

The matter then reached to the police after the accused withdrew that Rs 82 lakh from Pathak's bank account and did not return to his room since then.

Preliminary investigation revealed that accused used a fake name (Deepak).

A senior police official in Indore Crime Branch told media persons on Friday that accused person's location has been traced in Surat (Gujarat), however, he was yet to be identified.

Seven police teams of the crime branch have been alerted about the incident and a search to nab the accused is underway.

Police said preliminary investigation revealed that the accused used to introduce himself as a well-connected person and convinced people to provide homes under the PMAY at cheaper rates.

More than a dozen people have deposited their money as installment for the homes.

"Accused person made friendship with complainant (Chandan Pathak) with a fake name (Deepak) and shared room with him. We are also investigating if the complainant was also involved in this cheating case and further action would be taken accordingly," the police official added.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is a credit-linked subsidy scheme by the Union government to facilitate access to affordable housing for the low and moderate-income residents of the country.