Man poses as govt staffer; dupes 300 SHG women

A man possessing a duplicate identity card bearing the stamp of the Maharashtra government allegedly duped around 300 women of various self help groups.

A man possessing a duplicate identity card bearing the stamp of the Maharashtra government allegedly duped around 300 women of various self help groups (SHG) on the pretext of providing them loans from the Mahatma Phule Backward Class Development Corporation. Vinod Manohar Lakhan (38),a resident of Solapur,was arrested following a complaint by Geeta Sajay Goher (36) from Gultekdi.

According to Gohers complaint,Lakhan had promised a loan from the Mahatma Phule Backward Class Development Corporation stating he will take a share of Rs 2,570 for a loan of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 25,770 for a Rs 5-lakh loan. Accordingly,around 300 women,including Goher,had paid him a cumulative amount of Rs 8.8 lakh to obtain variable loan amounts,which were never sanctioned. Some women had credited their amount to the bank account of Lakhans second wife Manisha Saide,also in Solapur.

The incident came to light after some women from the self help group went with a written complaint to advocate Rupali Patil,also an MNS volunteer,who,in turn,called him on the pretext of obtaining loan and handed him over to police on Thursday. Lakhan was arrested under section 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating),of the Indian Penal Code.

He was produced before judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) Umeshchandra More who remanded him in police custody until Monday. According to the police remand application,they want to investigate how he obtained forms of the Mahatma Phule Backward Class Development Corporation and stamp of the state government. The police wanted to investigate if he had duped more persons in a similar manner. The police remand report states that there are chances that he must have used some bogus documents and stamps of the Mahatma Phule Backward Class Development Corporation.

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Self Help Groups