Nashik, Aug 12 (PTI) An alleged scam of Rs 305 crore related to fake work orders for the upcoming Kumbh Mela works in Nashik has been exposed, leading to the arrest of two persons so far, while as many others are on the run, a local police officer said on Wednesday.
The arrested accused, identified as Tanay Mahajan and Narendra Totaram Mahajan, allegedly cheated a person of Rs 2.17 crore under the pretext of helping him secure a housekeeping order for Kumbh Mela work, police said.
The trio (including the Mahajan duo and their accomplice) allegedly won the complainant’s trust by showing him a fake work order with a “list of Kumbh Mela works” containing the Government of India emblem and the name of Nashik Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela Authority, police said.
The accused told the complainant that these documents were digitally signed by the chairman of the Nashik Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela Authority. They created a fake work order and cheated the complainant of Rs 2,17,50,000.
DCP Kirankumar Chauhan said Kumbh Mela minister Girish Mahajan had alerted Nashik Police Commissioner Sandeep Karnik about incidents of cheating by a gang under the pretext of Kumbh Mela work orders.
“The investigation revealed that two accused had shown fake documents and allotted fake work orders for works worth Rs 591 crore to complainants who have come forward so far. In return, they took Rs 305 crore from them and cheated them. Accordingly, three cases have been filed with Nashik Road Police on August 11, and two people have been arrested so far,” he told a press conference.
Minister Mahajan had said the Kumbh Mela tender process is conducted online.
“However, a racket is working to cheat people by saying that the process of some tenders is on in an offline manner also,” he had said.
The minister clarified that work orders are not issued in the name of officials and do not bear authorised QR codes.
He had said that 12 such incidents of cheating have been reported, following which Nashik Police registered three cases. PTI COR NSK
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