Mumbai: Son tracks down man misusing his dad’s name for 5 years within 24 hours

Mishra has been remanded in police custody till September 13

After waiting for hours at a police station and the office of the Economic Offence Wing of the Mumbai police where his father was bombarded with questions, a Mira Road resident took it upon himself to expose a fraud who was misusing his father's notary registration details for the past five years. The 46-year-old fraudster, identified as V R Mishra, was arrested on Saturday.

It all started after Y R Dube, a notary with an office at Malad West, received summons from the Kashimira police and the EOW last month. A registered notary is allowed to authenticate certain documents for legal purposes. "Inspector Jitendra Patil from Kashimira police station called my father for verification of documents submitted by a person named Alim Baig and some of them had been shown as notarised by my father," said Dube's 26-year-old son advocate Nitesh. He said his 56-year-old father also visited the EOW office where some fake papers carried Dube's notary seal and registration details. "We produced all the evidence and the register in which we maintain records of all notarised papers," said Nitesh.

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The son said they had heard that Mishra was probably misusing his father's credentials. While Dube and Mishra know each other as they practise in Andheri court, Mishra had always denied doing anything wrong when confronted by Dube a couple of times.

Nitesh said, "We had got information in 2016 that someone was impersonating my father as a notary. We had written to Navghar police demanding an inquiry, but they did not register an FIR."

However, the son said he could not take anymore when Dube was treated like a suspect at the police station and EOW office. "I sought the help of two friends. We made a rent agreement and sent it to Mishra for notarising yesterday. I was stunned when the document came back with my father's seal and registration number. We immediately informed the Kashimira police," he said.

Based on Dube's complaint, the cops raided Mishra's office at Beverly Park in Mira Road East on Saturday and seized five rubber stamps and notary seal stickers with Dube's registered number. Nitesh said he had found that between July 2019 and March 2020, Mishra had ‘notarised' 27 suits that were filed at Thane court using the fake seals.

Experts said anyone submitting a document through a fake notary could be punished under the law. "The person filing the suit with the help of forged notarised paper also becomes an accused. If the court comes to know about this, it can order an FIR against the person concerned and can also dismiss the suit," said senior advocate Kshitij Mehta (Nanu Mehta).

An officer from Mira Road police station said Mishra has been booked for cheating and forgery. He said, "Mishra was produced in the court today and was remanded in police custody till September 13."