Overview
- Navi Mumbai Crime Branch arrested Adarsh Prashant Mhatre, 34, on February 20 and a court remanded him in police custody until March 4.
- Police allege he impersonated an ISRO scientist and a Public Works Department official to promise marriage and gain victims’ trust.
- He allegedly used more than a dozen aliases on Shaadi.com, Bharat Matrimony and Jeevansathi.com to target highly educated women, including engineers and doctors.
- According to police, he coerced victims into taking pre-approved personal loans for supposed property investments, took the money, sexually exploited them, and funded a lavish lifestyle including Goa casino trips.
- At least six cases have been linked across Navi Mumbai, Thane, Mumbai and Pune, and he is booked under BNS sections 64, 69, 318 and 319 with prior cheating, forgery and molestation cases dating to 2019.