New Delhi, Jan 30 (PTI) A 47-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly duping home buyers of about Rs 1.75 crore on the pretext of providing luxury apartments to them in Delhi-NCR, police said on Sunday.

Police had announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for information leading to the arrest of Sanjeev Kumar Mavi, a resident of southwest Delhi's Najafgarh, in connection with a 2017 case registered at the Ranhola police station.

Also Read | Union Budget 2022-23: Budget Session to Start From Monday, Check Full Schedule.

Mavi, the mastermind of the racket, was absconding while his brother-in-law Pawan Bhadana and Ravi Shukla were arrested in the case, police said, adding that a number of FIRs were registered against the gang members in Delhi-NCR.

According to police, constables Mintu and Shyam Sunder of the Crime Branch developed information about Mavi, who was wanted in half-a-dozen cases.

Also Read | ‘Bulli Bai’ App Case: Delhi Court Rejects Bail Plea of Main Accused Neeraj Bishnoi.

"On Saturday, our team received information that accused Mavi would be coming to sector 134, Noida. A trap was laid and the accused was apprehended," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Dheeraj Kumar said.

Mavi told the police that he used to work as a broker for real estate firms in Delhi-NCR. In 2016-17, along with his brother-in-law, he hatched a plan to dupe home buyers.

They recruited Shukla, who was Mavi's friend, created shell companies and launched fake luxury apartment projects. After collecting money from the prospective buyers, they shut their office in Ghaziabad and fled, police said.

"They launched a project called 'The Willows Luxury Apartments' under a fake real estate firm named Dreamland Promoters and Consultants Private Limited at Crossing Republic, NH-24, Ghaziabad. They collected about Rs 1.75 crore from home buyers and fled," the officer said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)