Conman poses as former Goa CM, dupes Congress MP

A 36-year-old conman, who allegedly duped Congress Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Vijay Darda of Rs 34 lakh by posing as former Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat, has been arrested, police said on Friday.

The accused, Digambar alias Balasaheb Khaire Patil, was arrested from Solapur on Thursday.

Posing as Kamat, Patil had called up Darda on October 9 when he was in Delhi and asked for the sum on behalf of a Haryana politician, for providing financial assistance to his supporters, police said.

Darda flew to Mumbai the next day. Patil again called him up to remind him of the request, to which Darda responded by saying the required sum was being arranged and it would be delivered to him in Pune.

Later, an unidentified person turned up on behalf of the conman at Band Garden in Pune and collected the money, with a promise to return it on October 15.

When the money was not returned, Darda contacted Kamat, who also belongs to Congress, and was shocked when the latter denied having made any phone call to him for financial help, police said.

Darda, through his staff, then lodged a complaint with the Dhantoli Police on Thursday, which transferred the case to their Pune counterparts for investigation.