Lalsingh Rajpurohit, Shinde Sena’s Vibhag Pramukh for Malad, Charkop and Kandivali | Facebook
Mumbai: On Friday, the Kandivali police registered an FIR against Shiv Sena (Shinde) office-bearer Lalsingh Rajpurohit and his associate Harish Makdia, for allegedly committing fraud. The Free Press Journal reported on Friday that the police had not yet filed the FIR regarding the cheating of a 62-year-old woman of Rs 52 lakh.
According to the FIR, Sushma Pai, a resident of Borivali West, lives with her husband and three sons. Her husband, Dattaram Pai, worked as a contractor handling MTNL telephone contracts. However, he had to stop working after suffering a paralytic attack.
In 1994, Dattaram Pai purchased a shop at Dattani Gram Building No. 3, Shop No. 11, Irani Wadi Road No. 1, Kandivali West, in Sushma Pai’s name. He used the shop for his business. In February 2019, after her husband suffered a paralytic attack, the Pai family required Rs 25 lakh for his treatment. To arrange the funds, Sushma Pai sold her gold ornaments and borrowed money from relatives and friends. As they had to repay the borrowed amount, they decided to rent out their shop.
In March 2019, Lalsingh Rajpurohit, Harish Makdia, and Hitesh Ajani visited the shop. Rajpurohit requested to rent the shop from Pai’s husband, stating that while the lease would be in Makdia and Ajani’s names, he would be responsible for paying the rent. Since the Pai family urgently needed money, they agreed.
A rental agreement was drafted for the period from May 1, 2019, to January 31, 2023, with a deposit of Rs 1 lakh and a monthly rent of Rs 16,000. Later, Rajpurohit sent the agreement to their residence with Ajani and instructed Sushma Pai over the phone to sign it. She signed the agreement, and for the first two to three months, Harish Makdia paid the rent as per Rajpurohit’s instruction.
Rajpurohit soon learned that Pai’s husband’s health was deteriorating and that they were in urgent need of money. In September 2019, Makdia visited the Pai residence, stating that Rajpurohit had sent him to ask if they were willing to sell the shop.
Later, Rajpurohit, Makdia, and another individual arrived at the Pai residence to discuss about the purchase the shop. Dattaram Pai agreed to sell the shop for Rs 57 lakh.
In December 2019, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed, stating that Rajpurohit would pay Rs 5 lakh as a token amount and the remaining Rs 52 lakh within 90 days. Rajpurohit paid Rs 5 lakh and promised to pay the remaining amount within two months.
However, when the Pai family did not receive the money within the agreed time, Dattaram Pai and his son visited Rajpurohit’s office in February 2020 to ask for the payment. Rajpurohit told them that he did not have the funds at the moment but would pay later.
As the Pai family urgently needed money for treatment, Dattaram Pai insisted that he either pay the amount or return the shop. In response, Rajpurohit threatened them, assured them that he would continue paying rent in the meantime, and then forced them out of his office.
Until August 2023, Rajpurohit occasionally paid Rs 50,000 or Rs 60,000, but when Dattaram Pai visited his office to inquire about the MoU and the pending amount, Rajpurohit again threatened him, stating that he would neither pay the rent nor the agreed purchase amount and challenged them to take any action they wished.
Eventually, Sushma Pai filed a complaint against Rajpurohit and Makdia on January 6. The Kandivali police registered a case under sections 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
