Mumbai: A con woman has been arrested, who along with her accomplices under pretext of availing cheap flats under the Mhada scheme accepted Rs 25 lakh from an investor, but failed to give any flats or return the money. Police found out the accused Bhakti Askhay Khandarkar (42), was already in Byculla women’s jail in connection with a similar cheating case. The victim, a resident of Sion was looking for a cheap house when he came in contact with late Khandu Baban Kashid and his son Ganesh who also resides in Sion Koliwada. The duo showed the victim a few flats in Mhada, Wadala and Worli. The victim liked a one-room kitchen flat in Mhada building near Century Mill compound at Worli. Kashids told that through their setting, they would get one room allotted through Mhada quota and allegedly took Rs 15.7 lakhs through cash, cheque and money transfer. In 2023, Kashids told the victim that his file has moved further for allotment but the victim has to pay a few lakhs more and introduced him to Bhakti Kandarkar and Yuvraj Bhakte who further extracted Rs 10 lakhs from him. During the course of the financial trail, police traced the bank account to Bhakti who received Rs 9 lakhs in her account. When police went looking for her, they learnt she has already been arrested by the DB Marg police in another cheating case. Police then moved the court seeking her production warrant and arrested her.
