Overview

• Bhandup Police arrested Lakshmi Kisan Bande and Nita Ankush Saraikar on July 5 and 6 after 16 victims filed FIRs alleging a ₹1.57 crore fraud in non-existent flat allotments
• The accused posed as MMRDA officials offering subsidised slum redevelopment flats for ₹8 lakh each and secured payments with stamped documents and photographed agreements
• They issued post-dated cheques to delay handovers, repeatedly assured victims of imminent possession and instructed them not to present cheques at banks
• Sixteen investors, many of whom are domestic workers and daily wage earners, paid between ₹50,000 and ₹28 lakh each, including one complainant who lost ₹39.5 lakh after selling her home and mortgaging jewellery
• Investigations under the IPC and the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act are ongoing as police pursue asset recovery and urge homebuyers to verify offers through official MMRDA channels