Maharashtra: Man held for duping shopkeepers by speaking in woman's voice

Police have arrested a man for allegedly cheating several shopkeepers in Thane, Pune and Nashik districts in Maharashtra by making phone calls in a woman's voice, police said on Friday.

The accused, Shashikant Ambekar (42), a resident of Nalasopara in Palghar district, was arrested in the last week of February, they said. "He used to note down the phone numbers mentioned on different shops and call the owners in a woman's voice to order some things from them. He would tell them that he had a Rs 2000 currency note and needed change," an official said.

"He would ask the shopkeepers to send smaller denomination notes for exchange. He would wait at the entrance of buildings and when the delivery man arrived, he used to tell that he was there on behalf of the 'caller woman'.

"He would then take the currency notes from the delivery man saying he would get the Rs 2,000 note from the woman. However, he would disappear from the scene," the official said. Police have seized Rs 1,85,000 from the accused and found that so far he has committed 22 similar crimes in different parts of the state. Further investigation is on.