Fake drug officials dupe medical shop owner of Rs 91,000 in Malad

This picture has been used for representational purpose

A medical shop owner in Malad was duped of Rs 90,000 by a man posing as a food and drug officer on Sunday.

Jagdish Parihar, the owner of Satyam Chemist near Bhoomi Park got a call on Sunday from a man who identified himself as a ‘food inspector of the food and drugs department'. The man informed that he has received an order to seal Parihar's medical store. He also asked the shop owner to immediately meet him at the ‘food and drugs' office in Bandra.

Parihar was told that a woman police constable named Rekha Kale has filed a complaint with the food and drugs department that her son fell ill after consuming the product purchased from Satyam Chemist.

"After contacting Kale, she told me that she had bought the powder from the boy working in his shop. I requested the lady to withdraw the complaint, but she told me that she was in Pune on work," Parihar said.

Kale told Parihar to settle the matter with her lawyer in Bandra.

"I spoke to the lawyer and he agreed to settle the matter and demanded Rs 27,375 which I transferred via Paytm," he said.

After transferring the money, Parihar spoke to the food and drug officer and informed him about our settlement. The man then told Parihar to make a request to Kale to withdraw the complaint. He also narrated how to do it on the food and drugs website.

"In this way, they duped me of Rs 91,000 through five different transactions in the name of charges of withdrawing complaints from the website, charges of lawyers and officers," Parihar said.

Parihar, who did not know much about the food and drugs department, informed his elder brother about what happened. "After this, I came to know that I was cheated. The food and drugs offices are closed on Sundays and no official asks for money online this way".

In a similar incident, Mukesh Chaudhary, another medical shop owner near Bhoomi Park also received a call from the same number. Chaudhary disconnected the call and did not call back again.

"No official can threaten to seal the medical store on the phone. There is a proper procedure for this. Similarly, no officer demands or takes the money over the phone. This is a new modus of online fraud, where people pose as drug officers and threaten people. If someone makes such a call, then disconnect that call and complain to the concerned police station," said Tarachand Chauhan, secretary of Malvani medical association.

"We have received the complaint and the procedure of registering the FIR is underway. We appeal to people to be alert and not to share their bank account details and OTP and other valuable information to any person on the phone call," said senior inspector Manohar Shinde from Charkop police.