Hundreds of engineers have been duped of more than Rs 20 crore by a real estate startup founded by three IIT Kanpur alumni.

DCP (south-east) Isha Pant told DH that complaints have been filed in Bellandur and Mico Layout police stations against Jatin Mitruka, CEO of Homigo Realty Pvt Ltd, and its directors Nikunj Batheja, Akash Varma and Arpita for cheating hundreds of people on the pretext of getting them houses and flats for lease and rent by collecting lakhs of rupees.

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Homigo Realty mainly operated in Bellandur, HSR Layout, Mico Layout and other places. The four suspects went absconding as soon as they learnt that a complaint was filed and efforts are on to nab them, she said.

Modus operandi

The victims stated in the complaint that the suspects had mentioned on their website that flats and houses were available for lease and rent in the city. They would collect money from prospective tenants, promising them houses for rent or lease, without informing the owners. The victims said they had paid advance amounts of lakhs of rupees for the flats. The suspects had fled the city after locking their houses. Meanwhile, owners of the flats are approaching the tenants and asking them to vacate the houses as they had not received the rents.

Investigations revealed that in many cases, the startup had taken money as lease but the accused had taken flat for rent and paid the owner monthly rents while keeping the full lease amount with them.

One Mamatha R and 22 others have filed a complaint that the accused cheated them of Rs 99.61 lakh stating they had taken flats for lease and rent after paying Homigo Realty.

However, Homigo Realty failed to pay the amount to the owners for a couple of months. Following this, house owners approached the tenants demanding rent. However, the company went incommunicado. The startup’s office at Ajay Plaza in NS Palya near BTM II Stage has been locked from past 15 days.