Man posing as PA of Shiv Sena (UBT) MP dupes owner of famous Mumbai eatery

Mumbai: A man was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly posing as the PA of Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant and cheating the owner of the famous 'Bademiya' restaurant here of more than Rs 11.2 lakh.

Suraj R Kalav, the accused, allegedly ordered hundreds of plates of food from the eatery while also promising to arrange admission for the complainant's daughter at the Government Law College, a police official said.

Jamal Mohammed Yasin Shaikh, the restaurant owner, lodged a complaint in this regard a couple of days ago, he said.

The accused called him last month, claimed to be the personal assistant of MP Arvind Sawant, and ordered food at an address at Bharat Mata junction at Lalbaug in central Mumbai, Shaikh said.

He ordered food every day between July 2 to 29, the period during which monsoon session of the Maharashtra legislature was underway, promising to settle the bill in a single payment, the restaurant owner alleged.

On the day Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Milind Narvekar was elected to the legislative council, Kalav ordered 200 plates of veg and nonveg biryani and gulab jamuns at an address in Mazgaon area.

The bill of Rs 2 lakh would be paid after the monsoon session was over, Shaikh was assured.

Meanwhile, Shaikh asked Kalav if he could get admission for his daughter at the Government Law College, as Kalav was (purportedly) close to MP Sawant.

Kalav allegedly took Rs 9.27 lakh from him and promised to secure the admission.

Shaikh realised he had been duped when Kalav stopped taking his calls.

A case for cheating and other relevant offences was registered at Kalachowki police station and the accused was arrested, the official said, adding that further probe was on.