Three arrested for duping retired West Bengal police officer

Representational Picture

Three men were arrested for allegedly duping a retired West Bengal police officer on the pretext of high returns, police said Thursday. The accused Pankaj Gupta (43), Gurnam Singh (52) and Vipin Kumar Luthra (62) were arrested on Wednesday, police said, adding that three mobile phones, different cheque books, fake voter ID and PAN cards were also recovered from their possession.

Ranabir Mukherjee, a retired Deputy SP of West Bengal Police, filed a complaint where he stated that on May 30, 2018, one person who identified himself as Rudrapratap Sharma called him and introduced himself as an LIC agent from area of Parliament Street, New Delhi, a senior police officer said.

The caller duped the complainant by saying that being a loyal LIC customer who is paying premiums every year on time, Mukherjee will be paid loyalty bonus, police said. The caller demanded a cheque of Rs 25,400 payable at LIC Headquarter Nariman Point, Mumbai with the photocopies of Pan Card, Aadhaar Card and Voter Card to open an account for only 45 days where his loyalty bonus will be reimbursed in his account, police said.

Sharma, along with his other associates, induced the complainant and collected around Rs 22 lakh from him in 12 to 13 different dates through NEFT, the officer said. However, the accused never sent any papers/documents/SMS/cash to the complainant. Later, Mukherjee refused to pay any further money and filed a complaint after he got to know the he was cheated, G Ram Gopal Naik, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), said.

Investigation revealed that the accounts of the accused persons were opened with fake documents. There were more than eight accounts in different banks on fake ID's which were used for cheating, Naik said On Wednesday, on the basis of technical surveillance, three accused persons have been arrested, he added.

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