Surat-based trio held in Malabar Hills for duping over 100 customers in pretext of product delivery

The trio are in police custody for four days. Representation pic

Three people from Surat were arrested by Malabar Hills police on Wednesday for allegedly cheating over 100 customers by not delivering the products they paid for. The accused allegedly advertised their fake website and products on popular e-commerce websites to lure customers. The accused were produced before a local court on Wednesday and have been remanded in police custody for four days.

The case came to light after a Malabar Hill resident lodged a complaint saying that he had placed an order for an e-cycle from a website named www.e-fitness.in, which he came across while browsing a popular e-commerce website, for Rs 26,999 but did not get it even after three months. He further alleged that the contact number mentioned on the website was switched off after the initial conversation, following which he approached the police.

Based on the complaint, Malabar Hill police checked the address and owner of the number and found out that the person had died last year. The phone number was traced to Surat. Police then looked at the transaction details and found that the number registered with the bank account belonged to one Shanikumar Praveenbhai Sheladia. A police team then reached Surat to arrest him.

During interrogation, Sheladia led police to two other accused - Sunil Bharatbhai Vaghasiya, 27, and Yagnik Jayantibhai Pansaria, 28. Police also recovered 320 SIM cards, seven laptops and six mobile phones from the accused. A cop told mid-day, "Upon checking the accused's bank statement of the month, it was found that in that month more than 20 people deposited money in his bank account. And the same was withdrawn soon after."

A police officer told mid-day that the accused allegedly duped over 100 people using the same modus operandi. They would use different SIM cards to communicate with different customers. In addition, they would upload fake reviews on their website to make it seem credible to the customers. Investigating officer Tukaram Dige told mid-day, "We have arrested the three accused from Surat in Gujarat and are conducting further investigation."

320
No. of SIM cards recovered