The Aarey police have arrested a 35-year-old man for allegedly forging forest department receipts and cheating filmmakers as well as the government during film shoots at Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) and Aarey Milk Colony.
The accused, Ganesh Ishwar Thakur, a resident of Rawalpada in Dahisar East, allegedly posed as an authorised middleman for forest clearances. Police said he collected large sums from production houses while submitting forged government documents to conceal the fraud.
According to investigators, Thakur obtained filming permission on behalf of a production house and collected Rs 64 lakh as clearance fees, even though the official forest department charge was Rs 39.59 lakh. To cover the discrepancy, he allegedly provided forged forest department receipts to the company and pocketed the remaining amount.
Police said Thakur secured permission for RK Enterprises for a project by Chalkboard Company between November 1 and December 25, 2025, but misused the same permission for other shoots without authorisation.
The scam surfaced after a complaint by Pradeep Pandurang Chavan, forest inspection officer at SGNP, Borivli. During a site inspection on December 4, officials noticed violations of permission terms and later found irregular payment records.
Investigations revealed that Rs 64 lakh was transferred to Thakur between October 11 and December 5, while department records showed receipt of only Rs 39.59 lakh. A forged receipt dated October 31, showing payment of Rs 50.71 lakh, was also found to be fake. Officials confirmed that the receipt number, seal, and signatures were fake and never issued by the department.
The police further said Thakur allegedly took Rs 2 lakh from filmmaker Makarand Malhotra using a fake permission slip. They suspect that several other filmmakers may have been similarly duped.
Thakur was arrested on December 24 after he allegedly resisted and argued with police during the operation. He was later detained following due legal procedure and lodged in Borivali lock-up. He was produced before the Judicial Magistrate First Class, 68th Court, Borivli, on Wednesday and remanded to police custody, said Senior Police Inspector Ravindra Patil, from Arey police station.
A case has been registered under Sections 318(4), 336(3), 337, 338, 339, 340(2), and 341(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Police inspector Mangesh Andhare is conducting further investigation.
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