A 42-year-old builder wanted for duping over 350 people arrested in Navi Mumbai

A 42-year-old builder wanted for duping over 350 people of several crores by promising them apartments has been arrested in Navi Mumbai township of Maharashtra, police said this morning.

Sachin Zende, the proprietor of Amrit Developers and Nisarg Construction, was absconding since last two years and was nabbed by the police on Tuesday.

He allegedly took money from several people and promised them flats, row houses and plots in Kamothe, Khopoli and Kondale-Chinchawli areas of Panvel, senior police officer Pravin Kumar Patil said.

However, when the customers did not get the properties, they approached the police, he said.

In July 2019, the Navi Mumbai police registered offences for cheating.

Apart from this, four cases of cheating were registered against him at a police station in Navi Mumbai and one at a police station in Mumbai between 2009 and 2016, he said.

He was also wanted in some cases of cheque bounce.

Besides, 182 cases of various offences against him were pending in consumer courts. In 22 such cases, warrants were also issued against him for not being present during court hearings, the official said.

Following his arrest, Mr Zende was produced before a local court which remanded him in police custody till Saturday, he added.