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Ludhiana: Fake marriage proposal, gift offer cost Khanna woman ₹15 lakh
The complainant stated that under continuous pressure and threats, the family transferred money multiple times through QR codes and bank accounts provided by the accused
A Khanna-based woman has been duped of nearly ₹15 lakh in a highly organised cyber fraud involving fake courier officials and impersonation of police officers. The accused tracked the woman for many months when she was in Dubai on a work visa.
The FIR has been registered by the cyber crime police station in Khanna on the complaint of the victim’s mother, Arunlata Kalia.
The complainant stated that her daughter Navda Kalia came in contact with a man identifying himself as Manish Chaudhary through Instagram while she was working in Dubai last year. The man claimed that he was settled in the United States and had been engaged in the gold business. Over time, he gained the young woman’s trust and put forward his marriage proposal, later claiming that he was sending expensive gifts, including gold, diamond jewellery, iPhone 16, three Apple watches, 18 gold bangles, dresses and 10,000 UK pounds to her through a courier service.
After the woman returned to India on August 15, 2025, she allegedly received calls from a person, Manoj, posing as courier officials from Dubai and Mumbai, who claimed that a parcel containing valuable items had arrived in her name and that customs duty and penalties had to be paid to avoid legal action. When she refused, she was allegedly threatened with arrest. The accused sent videos of other women arrested for not accepting the couriers meant to create fear. The accused also claimed that if she did not accept the courier, the Dubai police would arrest her from India and would shoot her dead, the complainant mentioned.
The complainant stated that under continuous pressure and threats, the family transferred money multiple times through QR codes and bank accounts provided by the accused. Later, the accused claimed that the courier was sent to Mumbai airport. She received a call from another fraudster claiming himself as an officer at the airport, demanding money from her, claiming that it was a government fee - including processing fee and penalties.
The complainant stated that they initially complied with repeated monetary demands after being told by Manish that he had contacted senior officials at the Mumbai airport and that the payments were government taxes. He allegedly persuaded them to book his air ticket to India so that he could resolve the matter personally. To arrange the funds, the family reportedly took a loan of ₹1.46 lakh from a finance company and transferred around ₹1 lakh on September 4, 2025, through bank accounts and QR codes provided to them.
Manish later claimed that he reached Mumbai airport on September 5 and, with the help of an airport official, took possession of the parcel. Soon after, he allegedly informed them that he had been arrested at the airport and beaten up by the police. The complainant said she spoke to Manish during this period and was told that he remained in police custody for three to four days and that an FIR had been registered against all four family members.
The complainant alleged that all these persons, acting in collusion, trapped the family in a web of deception, threatened them with false criminal cases and death, and blackmailed them by threatening to defame their daughter. In this manner, the family claims it was cheated of around ₹15 lakh through an organised online and cyber fraud racket.
Khanan police officials said after investigating the matter, the cyber crime police station slapped Sections 318 (4) (cheating), 61 (2) (criminal conspiracy) of the BNS and Section 66-D (cheating by personation by using any communication device or computer resource) of the Information Technology Act.
