A shocking case of fraud has come to light in Ahmedabad, where a man posing as a government official allegedly duped multiple victims of ₹20 lakh under the guise of allotting houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. The accused, identified as Vikramsingh alias Virendrasingh Rathore, a native of Khambha village in Amreli district, lured victims by promising them housing at prime locations in the city.
The complaint, filed by Pradeepkumar Kumawat of Vejalpur, detailed how the accused orchestrated the scam. Rathore introduced himself as an official at the Gandhinagar secretariat’s Housing department and claimed to be responsible for house allotments at Science City Road, Sola. He reportedly gained the victims’ trust by fabricating documents, including Aadhaar and PAN card submissions, and handing over fake property index numbers.
The complainant, along with his family and acquaintances, handed over a total of ₹20 lakh to Rathore in multiple instalments. This included ₹4 lakh each from the complainant and four others—Mukesh Singh, Mancharam Mewada, Pushpa Mewada, and Nifita Prajapati.
Initially, Rathore provided a copy of a property index in the complainant’s wife’s name, claiming that the remaining documents would be couriered. However, upon visiting the Mamlatdar office in Gota for verification, the victims were repeatedly misled with excuses such as server downtime. Eventually, they discovered that the documents were fake, and Rathore was not a government official.
Rathore’s modus operandi involved identifying himself as a government official, convincing victims to pay an advance for housing schemes, and later evading them by refusing calls or meetings. The victims realised the fraud when they received no tangible results despite repeated follow-ups.
The victims lodged a formal complaint with the Anandnagar police on January 7. The complaint accuses Rathore of criminal impersonation, cheating, and forgery under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The accused is reportedly still at large. The Anandnagar police have initiated an investigation, with senior officers assuring that stringent action will be taken against Rathore and any accomplices involved.