Rupa Sawant (name changed, 33), an accountant and resident of BDD Chawl in Worli, had posted an advertisement in the matrimonial section of a regional newspaper in August last year.

“Sawant was approached by Dabhavdekar who introduced himself as Kiran Parab, a Thane resident and an event manager earning more than Rs 20,000 a month. Sawant, who stays with her mother, accepted his proposal and after a few days of courtship, decided to get married in April this year,” said Police Inspector R C Khot of Worli police station.

Dabhavdekar told the family that he owned two houses, one on Ghodbunder Road and the other near Suraj Water Park, both in Thane. Dabhavdekar also told them he lived with his ailing mother who was undergoing treatment at a prominent city hospital.

“Once, he asked Sawant for Rs 10,000, supposedly to pay for his mother’s treatment. Sawant gave him the money. On February 13, he told Sawant his mother wanted to gift her some jewellery and wanted to see the designs of the pieces she already had,” said Police Sub-Inspector B C Gosavi. “The unsuspecting mother and daughter handed over jewellery worth Rs 79,000 to Dabhavdekar.”

The jewellery included a necklace, earrings, a mangalsutra, two bangles and a ring, all in gold. Dabhavdekar promised to return the pieces the following day, but then didn’t show up for two days. His cellphone was also switched off.

“That’s when Sawant got suspicious. She visited both addresses he had provided, to find they were fake addresses. Also, she found out that hospital he mentioned was treating nobody by his mother’s name. Sawant then decided to lodge a complaint,” said Khot.

An offence of cheating under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code was registered on February 20.

Dabhavdekar’s cellphone was switched on the same day. “We asked Sawant not to show any signs that she had lodged a police complaint,” said Khot. Instead, the police asked her to tell Dabhavdekar that she had severed ties with her mother and wanted to buy a separate house and needed his assistance.

“On Friday evening, Dabhavdekar was called to a restaurant at Dadar (East) to collect the money. We were waiting in civil clothes. The moment he took the bag filled with money from Sawant, we arrested him,” Khot said.

According to the police, Dabhavdekar is a history-sheeter and has cases of cheating registered against him at the Manpada police station in Dombivli, where he lives.