Thane man loses over Rs 2 lakh to scammers offering position in Qatar varsity

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A 32-year-old resident of Thane district in Maharashtra fell victim to a fraud committed by two unnamed individuals who swindled him out of more than Rs 2 lakh under the premise of granting a professorial position at Qatar University, officials said on Saturday.

The complaint, registered on Friday at the Ambernath police station, describes how the victim, who lives in Gautam Nagar, Ambernath, was contacted by accused recruiters via phone and email. They claimed to have offered him a position as a professor at Qatar University, which led him to believe their assertions.

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The fraudsters forced the victim to pay Rs 2,28,600 for registration, document verification, visa processing, and a medical check between August and October 2023.

When the victim enquired about the promised job, the scammers were ambiguous and evasive, causing him to seek redress by filing a police report. The investigation into the incident is still ongoing.

Thane police nabbed Akshay Varma, alias Shiva (27), a renowned thief, and recovered stolen goods worth over Rs 4.50 lakh from him in the district on Friday, according to senior police inspector Sachin Gaikwad, the report added.

According to the agency report, Varma wanted in various theft cases involving mobile phones and motorcycles in Mumbai, Thane, Bhiwandi, and Vasai-Virar, was apprehended on December 31 from Hanuman Tekdi in Bhiwandi by Thane police's Crime Branch Unit II.

During interrogation, Gaikwad stated that stolen property worth Rs 4,50,100, including five motorcycles and seven mobile phones, was found. The thefts occurred at police stations in Mumbai's Bhiwandi, Kongaon, Manickpur, Shanti Nagar, Narpoli, and Andheri MIDC, the report added.

According to the report, Varma had 14 charges filed against him at police stations in Bhoiwada, Kongaon, Bhiwandi, Naupada, and Narpoli before his arrest. Gaikwad continued.

In a separate incident, Samsher Bahadur Singh (68) and Meena Singh (65), an elderly couple from Thane, were discovered dead in their Chitalsar flat. Their son discovered them early Thursday morning, terrified by unanswered phone calls. Despite the lack of evident injuries, the remains were submitted for post-mortem examination, with suspected poisoning as the cause, another report added.

The report added Singh was a security guard, and his wife ran a little business from their house. A murder case under IPC Section 302 has been filed, and inquiries into the unfortunate incident have begun.