Man held from Punjab for cheating Mumbai dentist in name of tour package

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A 35-year-old man was nabbed from Punjab on Saturday for allegedly duping a Mumbai-based dentist of more than Rs 1 lakh under the pretext of offering a holiday package for the Maldives, police told news agency PTI.

The complainant had received a message in January claiming that a tour package was being offered for the island nation. The sender posed as the owner cum manager of a tourism company and gained the trust of the victim, an official told PTI.

The victim transferred Rs 1.05 lakh to the account number sent by the accused but failed to get any package, reported PTI.

He lodged an FIR. During the investigation, the police traced the man, identified as Luv Gupta, to Punjab and nabbed him, the official added.

Police recovered debit and credit cards from different banks, visiting cards, bank documents, a laptop and other materials from the accused.

A case was registered under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police have arrested two persons who were part of a racket that allegedly siphoned off Rs 7.5 crore from the bank accounts of a city-based businessman over the last four years, an official told PTI on Saturday.

The businessman, who is in the transport and aviation businesses, lodged an FIR against 11 people including his trusted accountant in April.

According to the complainant, the accused included his two cousins and as many friends along with others.

In the last four years, all the 11 accused, including five women, transferred Rs 7.5 crore from the bank accounts of the companies run by the complainant as well as his personal account, to their accounts, the official told PTI.

The incident came to light when the businessman was informed about some suspicious transactions in his accounts by his bank.

The businessman had initially approached the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police but the case was transferred to Sahar police station.

"Police nabbed Swapnil Chavan and Girish Agrawal on Friday. Chavan was earlier held on charges of robbery and extortion," the official told PTI.

He said the police had made several calls to 11 persons named in the FIR to record their statements but they evaded the police.

"Police have identified the masterminds behind this fraud as one Vimal Jagdish Agrawal and his wife Nupur," the official told PTI.

A case was registered under sections 477-A (Falsification of Accounts), 408, 409 (Criminal breach of trust) 420 (cheating), 120-b (conspiracy), and 34 (common intention). Further investigation is underway, the official added.

(With inputs from PTI)