Nagpur: A 45-year-old driver employed at Daga Memorial Hospital was allegedly cheated of ₹5.12 lakh after two men lured him with the promise of work in a film project and fraudulently obtained a bank loan in his name using forged documents.

Based on the victim’s complaint, Tehsil Police have registered a case against two accused on charges of cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery, criminal intimidation, and common intention under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The complainant, Vishaya Gopinath Lonare (45), a resident of Gandhi Bagh and employed as a driver at Daga Memorial Hospital, told police that he came in contact with the prime accused, Vijay Kumar Prithviraj Malpani (55), in 2022. Malpani later introduced him to Yasir Hussain Sheikh (35), a resident of Mankapur.

According to the complaint, the duo allegedly convinced Lonare that they could help him secure work in a film production. Since he was a salaried employee, they reportedly asked him to provide documents required for obtaining a bank loan, claiming it was part of the process.

The accused allegedly transferred ₹5,000 to Lonare through PhonePe and asked him to purchase a mobile phone, claiming it would help improve his CIBIL score.

Police said the accused then allegedly prepared a fake Aadhaar card in the complainant’s name, using the address of the prime accused, and secured a ₹5,12,536 loan from Yes Bank in Lonare’s name. The loan amount was allegedly handed over to the prime accused.

Initially, the accused reportedly paid the monthly EMIs from January to March 2023, but later stopped making payments. When bank officials began contacting the complainant over the overdue loan, he approached the accused, who allegedly gave evasive replies before eventually stopping answering his calls.

Realising he had been cheated, the complainant approached the police.

Tehsil Police have launched an investigation into the alleged fraud.