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Chandigarh: Fraudster posing as buyer held for duping stationery trader of ₹3.5 lakh
The accused placed an order for stationery, costing ₹3.67 lakh, via WhatsApp and sent a fake letterhead of Sai Enterprises, Shop No. 2247, Mari Wala Town, Manimajra, Chandigarh, for delivery of the stationery
Three months after a man duped a local female trader of ₹3.5 lakh by not paying for a stationery order, police arrested the accused on Tuesday.
The accused has been identified as Suresh Kumar Luthra, 62, of Shivalik Vihar, Nayagaon. He was declared a proclaimed offender in two previous cheating cases.
Complainant Balwinder Kaur of Kaimbwala, Chandigarh, owner of Laksh Enterprises, which deals in wholesale stationery, received a call from the accused in April. He placed an order for stationery, costing ₹3.67 lakh, via WhatsApp.
The accused sent a fake letterhead of Sai Enterprises, Shop No. 2247, Mari Wala Town, Manimajra, for delivery of the stationery.
The books were sent for delivery in an auto-rickshaw and the complainant shared the mobile number of the auto driver with the accused, who called the driver and got the books delivered somewhere else instead of the actual address mentioned by him.
He told the driver that he would make online payments for the books but never paid the money and rather turned his mobile phone off.
“The mobile phone that was used in the crime and some stationary items related to the case have been recovered from his possession,” said SP Ketan Bansal.
During the interrogation, Luthra disclosed that he used to target wholesale dealers of stationery items.
“He obtained their phone numbers and contacted them through WhatsApp calls or messages to order the stationary items in bulk by sending fake invoices. He used to pay some amount in advance but after receiving the delivery of the books from the auto drivers, he never paid the remaining amount,” an official said.
He then sold off the books to different bookstores in the tricity for half the price.
