Faridabad: Gang dupes many using ‘magic’ pen, four arrested

The Faridabad police have arrested four members of a gang from Delhi for allegedly duping several people of lakhs of rupees by using ‘magic’ pens on the pretext of offering extended warranty on their cars

The Faridabad police have arrested four members of a gang from Delhi for allegedly duping several people of lakhs of rupees by using ‘magic’ pens on the pretext of offering extended warranty on their cars.

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According to the police, the suspects posing as officials of private automobile companies used to offer their pens to the customers for filling up the cheques. However, the ‘magic’ ink would later disappear and the gang would fill in amounts in lakh and withdraw the same from the persons’ accounts, said the police.

The suspects were identified as Pawan alias Gaurav Sharma of Jahangirpuri in Delhi, presently living on rent in Sector 15 of Gurugram; Rahul Kumar of Hapur who was living on rent in Delhi’s Kailash Colony; Balbir Singh alias Ballu alias Ankit of Delhi and Amit Saxena alias Mona of Harsh Vihar in Delhi.

The police said the suspects used to make calls to the people who had bought new cars in the past three years after taking their details from the agents.

OP Singh, Faridabad police commissioner, said that the suspects used to offer extended warranty on their cars. “They used to visit the customers’ residences and offices and ask them to pay ₹1,100 for extended car warranty which was a nominal amount and people easily fell prey to their tricks. They used to offer their pens to the victims and later they would use heat to remove the amount section and filled lakhs instead of ₹1,100 and duped them,” he said.

The gang members operated from different areas of Delhi and called up people everyday and made at least 10 calls each, said the police.

The incident came to fore when a Faridabad’s Sector 15 resident approached police and lodged a complaint that he was duped of ₹1.90 lakh on January 16.

Singh said the suspects also used to divert the calls of the victims to their own phone numbers before presenting cheques in the banks, and if the manager or bank executive called to confirm the cheque then the call was received by them confirming the amount.

A case under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code, including Section 420 (cheating), was registered at cyber police station, said the police.

Basant Kumar, inspector at the cyber police station, said that they had formed a team, and based on technical surveillance, call detail records and human intelligence, arrested the suspects from different parts of Delhi on January 27. The team has recovered ₹1 lakh, four mobile phones, and four magic pens, among others, from their possession, Kumar said.

“The gang members had duped more than 50 people in Delhi-NCR. In another case, the gang had duped a Sector 28 resident of ₹3.40 lakh after he paid a cheque of ₹1,050 on October 29 last year,” he said.

“After receiving the cheque, they used to put the negotiable instrument in front of a bulb. The heat evaporated the ink and they later filled in huge amounts,” Kumar said.