5 cases, 6 arrested: Nashik police uncover Rs 3.4-crore fake Kumbh Mela work order racket

Police have uncovered another case of cheating a person of Rs 35 lakh under the pretext of allotting Kumbh Mela works in Maharashtra's Nashik district, officials said. 

With this, five such cases have been registered and six persons arrested so far for allegedly duping people of Rs 3.4 crore in the fake work orders racket, they said.

In the latest case, three of the arrested accused contacted a businessman, promising him a Rs 300 crore road work contract for the upcoming Kumbh Mela.

They showed him a forged work order bearing the Government of India emblem and the name of the Nashik Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela Authority. The businessman paid Rs 50 lakh for tender sanctioning, but later received no information, a police official said on Monday.

When he demanded his money back, the accused returned only Rs 15 lakh, the police said. Based on the victim's complaint, the Nashik Road police registered a case against the accused on Sunday, they added.