Thane: Hotelier duped of Rs 13 lakh on pretext of liquor permit

Thane: A man posing as an excise department staffer has allegedly cheated a 48-year-old hotelier of Rs 13 lakh after promising to get him a liquor sale license in Thane city of Maharashtra, police said on Sunday.

The accused contacted the victim, who runs a hotel in Kalwa area here, in January last year and claimed to be an employee with the state excise department in Nashik.

He offered to get the hotelier a license for sale of liquor and allegedly took Rs 13 lakh from him, an official from Kalwa police station said.

When the victim neither got the license nor his money was returned, he approached the police with a complaint.

The police on Saturday registered an FIR against the accused under legal provisions for cheating and criminal breach of trust, the official said.

A probe was on into the case.