A restaurant operator in Thane city has been booked for allegedly duping the owner of the establishment of Rs 68.50 lakh by not paying rent or other operational charges, police said on Saturday.
The accused has been identified as Pratik Kasare, who lured the restaurant owner into entering an agreement with him in January 2020 by claiming he had completed his hotel management studies from a premier institute abroad and was managing several fine-dine eateries, the SHO of Kasarwadavali police station said.
"Kasare defaulted on rent of Rs 29.15 lakh, staff wages of Rs 18 lakh, liquor bills of Rs 17 lakh, and grocery charges of Rs 4 lakh," he added.
With inputs from PTI
