According to the complainant, her family invested large sums of money and gold jewellery between May 2021 and January 2023. The accused are currently absconding, and the NM Joshi Marg police have launched a manhunt
The accused are currently absconding, and the NM Joshi Marg police have launched a manhunt. Representation pic/iStock
A Lower Parel-based family has alleged that their neighbours defrauded them of over R1 crore under the pretext of a high-return investment scheme. According to the complainant, her family invested large sums of money and gold jewellery between May 2021 and January 2023. The accused are currently absconding, and the NM Joshi Marg police have launched a manhunt.
The complainant, Nayana Devlekar, 49, originally resided in Pratiksha Nagar, Sion, before moving to Lower Parel with her husband and two children in 2000. During her time in Sion, her neighbours were Bhakti Khandarkar and her husband, Akshay. In 2014, Devlekar received a message from Bhakti on Facebook, where the two reconnected and began discussing financial investments. Bhakti allegedly proposed a scheme promising 10 per cent returns on every R1 lakh invested.
In her statement, Devlekar said Bhakti claimed to be working as an agent for a financial services company. She allegedly told Devlekar that she had invested R5 lakh of her mother’s money, which now yielded monthly returns of R50,000. Bhakti’s husband, Akshay, also allegedly encouraged the Devlekar family to invest. Acting on their advice, in May 2021, the family invested over R20 lakh in Nayana’s name, R46.5 lakh in her husband’s name, and R40 lakh in their daughter’s name. The complainant further stated that the funds were sourced from the sale of a property in Mumbai, in addition to gold jewellery weighing approximately 210 grams.
Devlekar said that while her family initially received some money as “returns,” the amounts were far less than what Bhakti had promised. In an attempt to repay the invested amount, Bhakti allegedly issued multiple cheques to the family, all of which bounced. Between 2023 and 2025, the family repeatedly requested the couple to return their life savings, including funds set aside for their daughter’s wedding, but received no response. Frustrated by the lack of action, they approached the NM Joshi Marg police station and registered an FIR against the couple on April 29.
“The accused couple are originally residents of Prabhadevi in Dadar and live in a MHADA apartment. However, they are currently absconding. A search is underway to trace them, and technical investigations have been initiated,” said a police official privy to the case.
May 2021
Year the complainant started investing
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