Mumbai: four people were arrested by Gorai Police recently for counterfeit entry vouchers to a amusement park and cheating the establishment to the tune of more than Rs 70 lakh. Police said at least 8,500 forgeries were printed at a press operated by one of the accused.
In August, a park employee noticed that the barcode on some titles had seven digits instead of six. Management was alerted and the police were contacted. An FIR for cheating has been registered against unidentified persons.
Police learned that counterfeit vouchers were being sold near the Borivali jetty, where visitors board a ferry to go to the park. The vouchers were kept for sale to roadside snack vendors. The sellers and the police obtained details of the accused from them.
Under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police Anand Bhoite, a team led by Inspector Vijay Jadhav made four arrests. Two of them were detained from the India-Nepal border.
Police said the authorized ticket agents were given vouchers in bulk, at Rs 900 each, from the park. The authorized agents would sell them at Rs 1,100 – with a profit of Rs 200. The accused sold the fake vouchers at the same price of Rs 1,100 but pocketed it all as the cost of printing was minimal.
The accused were identified as Rohit Tiwari, Omprakash Pal, Diwakar Maurya and Mithilesh Gupta, who ran the press. —Nitasha Natu