A woman has been cheated of Rs. 30 Lakh by her live-in partner in the city. Aarti Samdhariya, a 42-year-old teacher at a city school has alleged that her live-in partner, named as Ashish has cheated her of Rs. 30 Lakh and also forged her signature to withdraw money from her bank account.

According to police, Aarti, who is also the mother of a 17-year-old daughter and a 15-year-old son, met Ashish at a car dealership six years ago. Police said, “They met frequently to discuss the car deal and grew close. In one of the meetings, Ashish mentioned that he had been separated from his wife for 12 years. Aarti who was also separated from her husband, invited Ashish to live with her.”

In the complaint filed by Aarti, she has said, “She discovered that her SBI and ICICI bank account had a balance of Rs. 200 and Rs. 500 respectively when she went to the ATM for withdrawing money for her children’s fee. She checked the bank statement and found that Rs. 1 lakh each had been withdrawn from both the accounts. Then she went to Axis bank where she found that Rs. 8 lakh had been withdrawn from her overdraft account. She also found out that Rs. 8 lakh had been withdrawn using her credit card.”

Police has said that when Aarti called Ashish immediately after found that her money is missing, Ashish acknowledged that he had withdrawn money and promised to return it soon. However, he refused to give any information about his whereabouts and stopped picking up her calls.

Aarti has alleged that he had forged her signatures to withdraw money from her overdraft account in Axis bank and he has stolen PIN numbers form her mobile phone. She said that “over a year ago, she had lent him Rs. 4 lakh and Rs. 9 lakh to start a business.”

“We have registered a complaint. The accused has allegedly forged the woman's signature and abused her trust. We will investigate the case and take further action,” said Navrangpura PI RV Desai.

By Prajakt K.