Maharashtra: Senior citizen duped of Rs 37 lakh after threatening him of action by Delhi cops

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A senior citizen was reportedly cheated of Rs 37 lakh by two online fraudsters in Maharashtra's Navi Mumbai, a police official said on Thursday, reported the PTI.

The victim identified the two alleged accused as Rajvir and Vikas, the police said.

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As per the complainant, between March 13 and 19 this year, they contacted the septuagenarian victim claiming he was named in some serious offences involving human trafficking, money laundering and organ trading, the official said, according to the PTI.

"They also sent fake summons to him purportedly from Delhi Crime Branch and forced him to pay Rs 37 lakh to stall police action. After the senior citizen realised he was duped, he approached the cyber cell," the official said, as per the PTI.

No one has been arrested in the case and further probe is underway, the Navi Mumbai cyber cell official added.

Fraudster pose as govt official, defraud businessman of Rs 2 crore

Meanwhile, in an another incident last week, a 42-year-old businessman from Navi Mumbai was duped into handing over Rs 2 crore to a person posing as a government official, the police had said, reported the PTI.

The victim, a native of Nerul in Navi Mumbai, was experiencing financial troubles during the Covid-19 pandemic, the PTI reported.

According to the PTI report, the Nerul police officials stated that he met the accused in January 2021, a resident of Parel in Mumbai who claimed to be a high official in the central government's Health Ministry.

The imposter offered to arrange a loan for the victim and boasted of contacts to a bank CEO. He proposed using a property as collateral for the loan, the report added.

However, because the victim did not possess any property, the accused suggested involving another individual who was reportedly looking for a loan. It was advised that this person mortgage their property, with the loan amount shared between them.

Enticed by the proposition, the victim gave over Rs 2 crore to the imposter, which he had earned from a contractor in Telangana for the Pune Metro project, the news agency report further stated.

According to the news report, when the victim wanted to meet with the alleged loan seeker and a bank representative, the fraudster evaded him and eventually vanished.

Following the victim's complaint, Nerul police filed a case against the imposter on Sunday under sections of the Indian Penal Code for defrauding and forgery, the PTI report added.

(with PTI inputs)