Police said the conman, Firdaus Nasir Pastakiya from Dahisar (West), was evading arrest for the last 15 months. He and 11 others had floated the Helping Hand placement agency at Virar. The placement agency had wound up last year leaving several persons in the lurch.

According to the police, Firdaus and his accomplices duped several persons by accepting amounts ranging between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 for providing jobs with Mahindra and Mahindra company, Lijjat Papad and Shipping Corporation of India.

A Mumbai police team comprising of head constable N N Mahajan and constable S B Pardhi had come to Pune after receiving a tip-off that Firdaus was staying in a hotel at Katraj after assuming a fake identity. A team of Sahakarnagar police led by assistant police inspector Navnath Bereraided the hotel after the Mumbai police squad approached them late last night.