Navi Mumbai man loses Rs 19.43 lakh to cyber fraudsters

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A 34-year-old Navi Mumbai man was allegedly duped of Rs 19.43 lakh by cyber fraudsters who lured him to perform tasks online to earn extra income, police said on Saturday, reported news agency PTI.

The complainant, who is an employee of the under-construction Navi Mumbai Airport, alleged that the accused approached him on Telegram application and gave him tasks to like hotels and make bookings, an official said, reported PTI.

The Navi Mumbai man performed the tasks between March 24 and April 9, and he was made to pay Rs 19.43 lakh, he said.

The Navi Mumbai man later received Rs 24.3 lakh in his bank account, but could not make any withdrawals and could not get his money back, the official said, reported PTI.

The police have registered a case under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act against four persons and a probe has been initiated, he said.

In another case, a case has been registered against an unidentified man for allegedly sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl in Navi Mumbai, police said on Saturday, reported PTI.

Based on a complaint lodged by the victim's mother, the police on Friday registered a case under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, an official said, reported PTI.

The unidentified accused lured the child with a toy and took her to an isolated place near the staircase of a building in the Darave area of Nerul and sexually assaulted her on Friday afternoon, he said, reported PTI.

A probe has been initiated into the incident, the official from Nerul police station said.

Meanwhile,a man allegedly cheated an educational institution in Maharashtra's Thane district of more than Rs 10 lakh on the pretext of getting government's approval to run junior colleges in its two existing schools, police said, reported PTI.

The institution is located at Dombivli in the district.

"This institution operates two schools - one at Sagaon in Dombivli and another at Diva. These schools imparts education upto Class 10. But it wanted permission to open junior college (for Classes 11 and 12) and applied to the state education department for it," an official of Manpada police station said, reported PTI.

The institution wanted some responsible person who could handle it. One Dhanaji Janrao agreed to get the requisite permissions and sought Rs 16 lakh for the task, he said, reported PTI.

Accordingly, between March 2021 and June 2022, it paid Rs 10.62 lakh to him. But when it followed up with him, he gave evasive replies. He also told them since a new government was in place, it would a long time for the approval, the official said, reported PTI.

One of the trustees of the institution then lodged a complaint against him, based on which an FIR was registered at the Manpada police station, he said, adding that a probe was on.

(With inputs from PTI)