Mumbai: A 66-year-old man, who evaded the law for more than 25 years by living with a fictitious name and identity, was held for allegedly forging bank checks and defrauding people.
The accused has been identified as Janak Dholakia, who, according to the RAK Marg police, has more than 19 criminal cases registered against him in Mumbai, Pune, Gujarat, and Nanded starting from 1985.
First case against Dholakia filed in 1995
In 1998, when Dholakia was 44 years old, a case was registered against him at RAK Marg police for forgery and cheating. The complainant in the case was K.S Pillai, who owned a company based in Dadar. The complaint alleged tha Dholakia had issued a bogus check as payment when he brought a camera worth Rs50,000. He used a fake name, kept promising money via check, and ordered 40 more cameras from the victim. After all the checks from the accused bounced, the victim lodged a complaint against Dholakia.
Dholakia was arrested but got out on bail. However, he did not show up when summoned by the court and was eventually declared an absconder.
A week before New Year’s Eve, Mumbai Police began ‘operation all out’, where police stations were told to nab all absconding accused. RAK Marg police reopened the case and initiated an investigation. A team of seven officials began the work.
The police collated his criminal history and used informants to search for the accused. They traced and interrogated his accomplices in the crimes. They tracked down Dholakia’s residential address in the Nalasopara area of Palghar from where he was arrested on Saturday. He will be presented in court on Sunday.
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