The perpetrator has allegedly conned over 40 people using the same ruse
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The Cuffe Parade police have arrested a 23-year-old Graphic designer from Delhi for conning more than 40 people across the country on the pretext of selling them Iphones at cheap prices. The accused identified as Ritesh Kumar Bharadwaj used to post paid advertisements on popular social sites to lure people. The crime came to light when a law student from Mumbai, who was being conned by Ritesh, received a call for the second time from him. The call was what blew the lid off the crime that was being perpetrated for the last 2 years.
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Mangesh Mandal (21), a law student living in South Mumbai noticed an advertisement on Instagram that claimed that an Iphone 6S was available for Rs 10,000. Mangesh clicked on link and checked the website, he found an offer that urged a customer to pay money online through a payment portal. "This happened in June 2018, I paid money through online banking, and I received a message saying that the Iphone would be delivered as soon as possible. But after a couple of days I couldn't track my parcel. When I tried to call the number given on the website it was switched off," said Mangesh Mandal. "I realised that I had been conned by someone, but after a few days I received a call from the same number telling me about the same offer and realised that the person behind the racket is same as the one who had called me. I immediately registered a complaint with the Cuffe Parade Police station" he added.
An FIR was registered on 1st June 2018 under IPC section 420 (Cheating) and relevant sections of IT Act. "During investigations, we found that the accused behind this racket was living in Delhi. We then sent a team to Delhi, led by Police Sub Inspector Vishal Gaikwad. On reaching the city they found that the accused had left the home he was living in for several years," said Senior Police Inspector Rashmi Jadhav. "We finally traced the accused with tireless teamwork," she added.
"The accused, Ritesh Kumar Bharadwaj, worked in a company as a Graphic designer. After watching a promotional advertisement on a social ntworking site, he came up with the idea of developing a website to sell Iphones. he then designed the site in 2016. Since the inception of the site, Ritesh has been conning people and we suspect he has conned more than 40 people till date. We are now urging more people to come forward and complain if they have conned in the same way, " officer said an officer.
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