MUMBAI, June 24 -- The Kalachowki police have arrested a 41-year-old man, a purported chartered accountant (CA), for allegedly duping a Lalbaug resident of Rs.2.4 crore by luring him to buy 11 cars on loan from various banks and taking possession of the vehicles. The fraud was carried out between August 2023 and February 2024 and police are on the lookout for two accomplices of the arrested accused, officers aware of the matter told HT. The accused, identified as Rahul Girish Shah alias Sachin alias Saurabh, was arrested and produced in court on Sunday and remanded to police custody till June 26. According to the police, Shah was a resident of Millat Nagar in Oshiwara while the person he defrauded, 40-year-old Suhas Mestri, lived in Lalbaug and worked with a charitable trust. In 2023, Mestri was looking for a stable investment opportunity when his friend, Harshal Gangurde, introduced him to Shah, who claimed to be a CA. In August 2023, Shah met Mestri and claimed that he had good contacts with various hotels in the city where diplomats visiting from Delhi stayed and he could help Mestri strike rental deals with them if he bought some cars. Subsequently, Mestri met Gangurde and Shah at a hotel in Bandra Kurla Complex. Shah praised Mestri's credit history and asked him to purchase 11 cars on loan. He also said that he would help Mestri rent the cars and earn good profits. "Two accomplices of Shah took Mestri and his wife's signatures on multiple bank forms and documents and applied for loans on their behalf," a police officer said. Shah further advised Mestri to take Rs.5.10 lakh on loan from a private finance company towards down payment for purchasing the vehicles, the officer added. In January 2024, Mestri met with an accident and was homebound for several weeks. Eleven car loans that he had applied for via Shah's accomplices were approved during this time and 11 cars and two laptops were bought in Mestri's name. "Since Mestri was unwell, Shah took possession of all the vehicles. He said he would rent them out on Mestri's behalf and hand over the money to Mestri. He also said he would repay the loans," said the police officer. A few months later, Mestri noticed the EMIs were unpaid and he was not receiving any money for renting out the cars. He realised that he had been duped and approached the Kalachowki police station....