Mumbai: Conman dupes mother-son duo of Rs 5L using Prince Narula's name

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The Mumbai Police recently booked an event manager for allegedly using actor and model Prince Narula's name and cheating a Parel resident of Rs 5 lakh. Police officials said the accused posed as a music producer and told the complainant to invest Rs 5 lakh in an album that he is making with Narula, Big Boss Season 9 winner. The conman also offered Rs 7 lakh in return.

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In order to gain the victim's confidence, the accused, identified as Krishna Kumar Sharma, also arranged a meeting of the victim's son with Narula and introduced him to the model. However, after getting the money, the accused started ignoring the victim, post which the victim lodged a police complaint. The police have mentioned Prince Narula's name in the complaint, but not as an accused.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Prince Narula said, "Sharma, who is an event manager, misused my name, misguided me while introducing me to the complainant's son. Sharma also owes me Rs 8 lakh and has now cut all communications with me. He had offered to work with me on a music album, but the project never materialised. To save people from such conmen, I keep on posting awareness messages on my social media accounts and appeal people to directly contact my manager and verify things before sending money to any person taking my name."

The complainant, identified as Sheetal More (50), works at the small cause court, while her son Prasad is an aspiring model and music artist, who also performs at music events. It was during one such event in Bengaluru that Prasad met a person named Raj, who in turn introduced him to Sharma, who originally hails from New Alipur in Kolkata.

Upon meeting Prasad, Sharma told him that he is making an album with Prince Narula in America and is short of Rs 15 lakh. The accused further said that Raj invested Rs 5 lakh while another friend was ready to invest Rs 5 lakh. He then asked Prasad to invest Rs 5 lakh and get Rs 7 lakh in return, the FIR reads.

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According to the police, Prasad and his mother did not believe them. Post this, in 2018 Sharma called Prasad and Raj to a housing society in Andheri (East) where Narula lives and introduced them to the actor-model, saying that the two would be investing in the music album. Following the meeting, More and Prasad invested Rs 5 lakh in the project in 2018 and signed an agreement with Sharma.

After receiving the money, both Sharma and Raj started ignoring the mother-son duo. Following this, More approached the police last year. In the beginning, the accused said he would pay back, so the police waited, however, the police now registered an FIR against Sharma under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

When More had called Narula, he had told her that he was working with Sharma on an album, but later something went wrong and they parted ways, a police officer said. Narula had also offered to help her.

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