Mahalunge MIDC police on Thursday arrested three men for illegally confiscating an earthmoving machine and handing it over to the Hagawane family about a month ago.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Shivaji Pawar said the accused—Yogesh Raskar (25) and Vaibhav Pingale (27) of Talegaon Dhamdhere, and Ganesh Potale (25) of Mohitewadi—were recovery agents working with a bank. Despite no official order to seize the machine, they returned it to Lata Hagawane and her son Shashank.
The arrests bring the total suspects in the ongoing cheating case, registered on May 29, to five, including Lata and Shashank Hagawane.
Earlier, the Hagawane family was arrested in connection with a dowry harassment case linked to Vaishavi, who allegedly committed suicide in Bhukum last month.
Pawar explained that the earthmover was taken on loan from the bank by the victim from Khed (33), who had agreed to purchase it from Lata Hagawane. The victim was paying monthly installments of Rs 50,000 to Shashank to repay the loan.
However, instead of receiving payments, Shashank conspired with the recovery agents to unlawfully seize the machine and keep it in his possession. When the victim demanded either the machine or the money, Shashank allegedly threatened him with a licensed pistol.
The victim suffered a financial loss of Rs 11.7 lakh due to these actions.
