Pune: Disabled Person Falls Victim to Rs 39 Lakh Fraud in Disabled Quota Wine License Racket; Police Booked Three Along With Fake Disable Commissioner
Pune: A case of financial embezzlement has come to light in the city in which a 43-year-old disabled person was cheated of Rs 39 lakh by the accused by posing himself as a commissioner for persons with disabilities and assuring the individual to give a wine shop license from the disabled quota. This is the second such incident in the city.
In this regard, the 43-year-old construction contractor from Super Bibwewadi has filed a complaint at Bibwewadi police station. Accordingly, police booked Vijay Damodar Mhaske (a resident of Natepute, District Solapur), Sanjay Kulkarni, alias K.K. Rao, and Londhe Bai. Notably, the prime accused, Vijay Mhaske, is himself a disabled person. He has cheated many people by taking advantage of his disability.
As per the police information, the plaintiff is disabled in both legs. Four years ago, one of his friends introduced him to Vijay Mhaske. At that time, Mhaske introduced himself to the plaintiff as the commissioner for persons with disabilities. Therefore, the plaintiff asked Mhaske whether he would get a license for the Snacks Centre stall on the platform at Pune railway station. For this, the accused showed his readiness and also took 2 lakh Rs from the plaintiff.
The accused also promised the plaintiff to give him a wine shop license from the disabled quota. For this, the accused demanded 48 lakh rupees from the plaintiff. He further assured the plaintiff that for this, the plaintiff would get a subsidy of Rs 1.36 crore from the Central Government for the materials required for it and also a subsidy of Rs 56 lakh from the Maharashtra government.
Accordingly, the plaintiff paid Rs 39 lakh 83 thousand into Mhaske’s account from time to time between December 2023 and March 2024. Meanwhile, on January 19, 2024, Mhaske took the plaintiff to Mantralay for this work. He seated the plaintiff in the waiting room of Excise Minister Shambhuraj Desai’s office and went inside with his file.
After some time, he returned to the waiting room with a letter signed by the Upper Commissioner of the Department of Social Justice and Special Assistance. Mhaske then took the plaintiff’s and his wife’s signature on that letter as license holders. At that time, Sanjay Kulkarni was also there, along with Mhaske. Mhaske told the plaintiff that Kulkarni does the license and government subsidy work for the disabled people.
However, after that, Mhaske started to give various reasons for delaying the work. Therefore, the plaintiff met Mhaske at the Garwa Hotel in Natepute. At that time, Mhaske assured the plaintiff that he would give him the license after coming to Pune. However, when the plaintiff asked for the money back as Mhaske was not giving him a license, Mhaske gave him a blank check.
When the plaintiff deposited that check in the bank, he found that there was no money in the account. When he realised that he was cheated, he rushed to the police station and registered a complaint against Mhaske at Bibwewadi police station.
Earlier, a similar complaint was registered against Vijay Mhaske at Chikhali Police Station for duping a person in Pimpri of Rs 10 lakh 65 thousand. At that time, he pretended to be a resident of Manori in Nashik. Police registered a case against him and two of his accomplices and are investigating further.
