'BPO owner' held for duping dealer of 25L

MUMBAI: When a well turned-out articulate young woman approached computer dealer Jitendra Vora for "help", he never imagined that she was out to dupe him.

In July 2008, Anita Shukla (28) visited Vora at his office, looking to rent computers; she told him that she needed to hire 109 computers to realize her dream: to start her own BPO. But as years passed, she defaulted on payments and then one day, she vanished. On Monday, Shukla was arrested by the Borivli police for duping Vora of around Rs 25 lakh.

Shukla, a graduate who stayed at a rented apartment in Malwani, had been arrested thrice by the economic offences wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police for financial frauds. She claimed to have separated from her husband, Sandeep, who was also booked by the EOW in the past.

"Vora from Natakwala lane in Borivali runs Arihant Infotech at Shimpoli village. The firm sells, repairs and rents out computers. Shukla first approached Vora after finding his firm's address from a telephone search engine," senior inspector Bhagwan Chate said. "The duo entered into an agreement on August 7, 2008, following which 109 computers were delivered to Shukla's office at Rokadia Lane in Borivli. The collective rent for all the computers was fixed at Rs 2.18 lakh per month."

Shukla gave Vohra post-dated cheques of Rs 15 lakh, but all of them got dishonoured. When Vora infirmed her about it, Shukla paid him Rs 3 lakh in cash and promised to pay the rest soon. In March 2010, she moved her office to Poisar in Kandivli without intimating Vohra, the police said.

"As Shukla stopped paying the rent, Vora started hunting for her. He traced her new office but could not contact her. In December, 2010, he lodged a complaint, after verifying which we lodged a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust against Shukla on January 17," Chate added.

Shukla was produced in a metropolitan court in Borivli on Monday when she was remanded in police custody till February 2. The police have recovered Rs 5 lakh in cash and Rs 5 lakh in demand drafts from her. She claimed that the computers were with Sandeep and her brother-in-law, Abhijeet Gavan, the police said. "We are investigating the roles of Sandeep and Abhijeet. Both of them will be interrogated," the police said.