Mumbai: Assamese man held for defrauding Goregaon businessman

The Dindoshi police have arrested a 37-year-old man accused of defrauding a Mumbai-based businessman of Rs 53 lakh. The incident took place in 2022 and the accused had been absconding since. He was arrested on May 19 in Assam with the help of local police.

According to the police, the fraudster, identified as Roopjyoti Bora, a resident of Assam, was also wanted in connection with multiple fraud cases in the state. According to police sources, acting on a tip-off, the Dindoshi police laid a trap and successfully arrested Bora.

“With the help of call data records, we were able to trace the accused’s location and took him into custody on May 19,” said a police officer from Dindoshi police station. Bora was produced before a court in Mumbai on Thursday and has been remanded to police custody till Monday, said another officer. Investigations have revealed that Bora used to run a popular theatre group in Assam and that several well-known Assamese actors were reportedly part of the productions under his banner.

The fraud incident came to light based on a complaint filed by a 50-year-old Goregaon-based businessman who deals in solar installation business across the country.

According to the victim, Bora, along with his associate identified as Srinivasan, befriended him and lured him into giving them money.

“The victim had visited Delhi in 2020 for business, where he met Srinivasan. During this meeting, Srinivasan introduced him to Bora, claiming that Bora had strong contacts in the Assam government and was known for securing large government tenders, promising huge profits if they partnered. Lured by the prospect of government contracts and high returns, the victim agreed to enter into a business arrangement with them,” said another police officer.

In 2022, Bora and Srinivasan claimed that they had secured a government order worth Rs 6 crore for installing solar street lights in two large Gram Panchayats in Assam and collected approximately R53 lakh from the victim under various pretexts, said police.

To gain the victim’s trust, the accused even handed him what appeared to be an official government work order issued in the name of the complainant’s company. However, after receiving the money, they absconded and also switched off their phones.

The victim personally visited Assam with a copy of the work order, which he discovered was ‘a fake’ upon verifying with the concerned government department. Following this, the victim approached the Dindoshi police station and got a complaint registered on October 15, 2024, naming Srinivasan and Bora.

Acting on the complaint, Dindoshi police registered a case, and under the guidance of DCP Smita Patil, senior inspector Ajay Aphale, PSI Kumar Sautade, along with his team, including police constable Bhushan Mahajan and police constable Sotosh Gosavi, launched an investigation and successfully arrested Bora in Assam on 19 May.

Further investigation revealed that Bora was linked to at least three other cases of fraud in Assam and was wanted by the Tezpur, Kokrajhar, and Jorhat police stations. 

May 19
Day accused was arrested 

This article first appeared on Mid Day