Man posing as CM Fadnavis's OSD held for cheating Akola contractor of Rs 3.25 crore

A serious case of extortion of Rs 3.25 crore from a contractor has come to light in Mumbai. The accused allegedly claimed to be an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and took the money by promising to get Rs 50 crore worth of bills, stuck in a government department, cleared. Marine Drive police have arrested Asif Ismail Pathan, 40, a resident of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, in the case.

According to the police, the victim is Ranjeet Singh Oberoi, contractor with Oberoi Construction of Akola. Bills of about Rs 50 crore of his were pending with the Public Works Department (PWD). The accused, Asif Pathan, convinced Oberoi that he was close to senior officials at Mantralaya and directly to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO). By presenting himself as the Chief Minister's OSD, he won the contractor's trust.

The police said the accused told Oberoi that a commission would have to be paid to get the bills sanctioned, and took a total of Rs 3.25 crore in instalments. Oberoi was called to Mumbai on September 10 to hand over an instalment of Rs 1.25 crore. On that day the accused had the money taken by an associate.

Even after paying such a sum, the work did not move forward, and when the accused demanded a further Rs 75 lakh, Oberoi became certain he was being cheated. On September 30 he went straight to Mantralaya in Mumbai and asked about the OSD and the officer. He found that no officer named Asif Pathan was in the Chief Minister's Office or in Mantralaya. On realising he had been cheated of crores, Oberoi went to Marine Drive police station and filed a complaint.

Based on the complaint, Marine Drive police registered a case and arrested the accused, Asif Ismail Pathan, from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. He was produced in court, which sent him to police custody until November 6.

The police are now looking into several questions, including whether any other senior official or associate was involved in the fraud, and where the accused hid the crores he extorted. They are also trying to seize the vehicles used in the crime. Marine Drive police are also trying to find out how many other contractors the accused trapped in the same way.