E-Paper
Ludhiana man duped by ‘friend in need’, loses ₹2.82 Lakh
The complainant said he spoke to the advocate, who said that they need to pay €4,000 for his friend’s release. He then arranged ₹2.82 lakh and deposited it in a bank account, the details for which had been provided by the man. Upon realising that he had been duped later, the complainant reached out to the Ludhiana Police
In yet another incident of a swindler posing as an acquaintance, a Sarabha Nagar resident lost ₹2.82 lakh online.
The accused called the victim while posing as his friend who had settled in London, saying that he had been arrested by police and needed money to post bail.
The victim has been identified as Vikas Passi, 53, a realtor from I-Block of Sarabha Nagar. Following an enquiry into his complaint, police have registered a first information report (FIR) against the accused — identified as Mukhtar Bhagat of Majhaulia, Bihar.
The complainant said he received a WhatsApp call from an international number on May 6, 2022 . The caller posed as the victim’s childhood friend who had moved to the United Kingdom. The caller said he had gone to a club in London where he indulged in a spat with a man and was arrested by the police.
The caller said he needed money to post bail and provided a complainant with a contact number of a person who, he said, was his advocate.
The complainant said he spoke to the advocate, who said that they need to pay €4,000 for his friend’s release. He then arranged ₹2.82 lakh and deposited it in a bank account, the details for which had been provided by the man. Upon realising that he had been duped later, the complainant reached out to the police.
Sharing details about the case, inspector Balwinder Kaur, who is investigating officer, said an FIR under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 66 D of Information and Technology Act, after an enquiry conducted by Ludhiana police’s cyber cell.
