Bakery owner cheated by woman who claimed to PA of Minister

New Delhi: She got close to the owner of a bakery shop by introducing herself as Personal Assistant of Railway Minister and allegedly cheated him of Rs 8.25 lakh on the pretext of getting him a catering tender in the railways.

Seema Malhotra, 40, was arrested from Vasant Kunj area in south Delhi on Wednesday by Delhi Police after an 18-month manhunt for cheating Abhayjeet Singh, who owns bakery shop Hot Oven in Karol Bagh.

She had deposited the money in the bank account of one Madhu Singh, who she met in jail after she was arrested in a cheating case. Police have launched a manhunt to apprehend Madhu Singh.

Police said Seema met Singh and his mother and got close to them by introducing herself as PA of then Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"After some visits, she developed friendly relations with them. Subsequently, one day Seema requested him to pack some food for the minister and on the next day she informed him that the minister had praised the food and even made him talk on the phone to a lady who said she was the Minister," Devesh Chandra Srivastva, Additional Commissioner of Police, Central District, said.

Later, Seema informed Singh about a new project of the Indian Railways namely 'The Rajasthan Royals Express' and encouraged him to apply for the Rs 23 crore tender for catering as it could be very profitable for him.

"She took a pay order for Rs 5.50 lakh as part of the fee of the tender in favour of R B (Madhu Singh), as she claimed that RB stands for Railway Board and Madhu Singh was a senior official in railways," he said.

Seema again visited his shop and informed that he was on the verge of being awarded the contract and asked him to apply for tender of toilet kits in a non-existent 'The Rajasthan Royal Express'.

"After being convinced about her offer, the complainants father gave a pay order of Rs. 2.75 lakh as part fee for the tender again in favour of R B (Madhu Singh). She also handed his father a receipt of Rs. 2.75 lakh," the official said.

When they tried to confirm about the authenticity of the tenders after Seema asked them to pay another Rs 11 lakh, the complainant came to know that the pay orders were deposited into a private account and there were no such tenders.

During investigations, police found that the pay orders were credited into the account of R.B. Madhu Singh at Punjab National Bank, Pahar Ganj, Delhi on December 6, 2010 and January 1, 2011 respectively. They also found that there was no person in the name of Seema working in the department.

During interrogation, Seema said that in order to live lavishly, she started to cheat innocent people on the pretext of helping them get admission to their children in reputed schools.

She had previously been also arrested in a cheating case in Greater Kailash and met Madhu Singh.

After her release from jail, both the accused planned to cheat people on the pretext of getting supply orders/contracts in Railways.