Former DIG cheated of ₹50 lakh, three other cheating cases lodged in Pune

Four cheating cases were lodged in the city on Wednesday, wherein victims lost ₹70 lakh.

In the first case, former deputy inspector general of police Maruti Shankarrao Maheshgauri (80), a resident of Vishalnagar near Jagtap dairy in Wakad has lodged a complaint with the Deccan police stating that Latur resident Rajeev Ashok Kendre currently based in Dubai and Harshal Ashok Kulkarni, a resident of Kothrud, promised higher return on investment and cheated him of ₹50 lakh between 2021 and 2023. The offence was lodged on May 7 under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 420 (cheating), 407 and sections 3 and 4 of the Maharashtra Protection of Investors Deposit (MPID) Act.

In the second case, a 49-year-old woman has lodged a complaint with Nanded City police stating that a person from whom she sought help to remove her blocked ATM card inside an ATM defrauded her of ₹90,000 on the pretext of assisting her with removing the money. The incident took place at the SBI ATM located in Sairpuram Society on April 18, and the FIR was lodged on May 7.

In the third incident, a 26-year-old resident of Warje Malwadi was duped of ₹4.65 lakh by online stalkers who posed as policemen, instilled fear of investigation, arrest and forced him to cough up the amount to let him off.

In the fourth case, a seventy-six-year-old woman resident of Karve Statue area has lodged a complaint with Alankar police stating that she was cheated of ₹21.65 lakh by online fraudsters who posed as law enforcement officials, threatened to frame her and looted her of her bank savings by misusing her Aadhaar card.

The offence took place in February 2025, and a case was lodged under BNS 319 (2), 318 (4) and 204 and IT Act 66 D against the accused on May 7.