Fraudster arrested by Gurugram Police over fake astrology consultations scam of ₹36L

A 26-year-old man was arrested in Rajasthan for allegedly duping over ₹36 lakh from 58 people via fake online astrology consultations, Gurugram Police said.

Updated on: Sep 3, 2024, 05:36:01 IST

By Debashish Karmakar, Gurugram

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A 26-year-old man has been arrested in Rajasthan by Gurugram Police for allegedly duping over ₹36 lakh from at least 58 people across India by offering fake online astrology consultations and performing rituals to remove black magic, officers said on Monday.

Investigators said they will probe further to ascertain what he did to spend the hefty amount of money duped from victims. (File Photo)

The suspect, identified as Raj Kumar from Sikar, Rajasthan, was arrested on August 3 by a Gurugram Police team, police said. Investigations conducted with the assistance of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre revealed that Kumar had defrauded victims using the same modus operandi over the past seven to eight months, primarily through advertisements on social media.

Police said that Kumar’s arrest came after he allegedly cheated a 37-year-old woman in Gurugram of about ₹50,000, claiming he could resolve her personal and professional issues. Sandeep Kumar, public relations officer of Gurugram police, explained that Kumar convinced the woman she was a victim of black magic and offered to perform a special ritual to remove its effects.

“The suspect had his presence on social media, where he had provided a contact number for consultation on astrology. It was on the pretext of these things that he had cheated the woman. She had submitted a complaint based on which an FIR was registered against him under sections 419 (cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code at Cybercrime Police Station (West) in July this year,” said the PRO.

Following the investigation, he was nabbed from Sikar, police said. During his arrest, a mobile phone and SIM card used in the crime were recovered from Raj Kumar, they added. Analysis of the phone number linked to the fraud led investigators to discover over 50 complaints filed against him across India and eight FIRs registered, including two in Haryana, one of which was in Gurugram.

Investigators said they will probe further to ascertain what he did to spend the hefty amount of money duped from victims.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debashish Karmakar
Debashish Karmakar is a principal correspondent with the Hindustan Times, Gurugram bureau. He has a vast journalistic experience of almost 14 years of covering crime, court, power, transport, administration, weather and other beats while working across various organisations. He has been covering Gurugram, Faridabad, Nuh, Palwal and other districts of southern Haryana for more than four and a half years. He has produced several breaking and exclusive stories while reporting from the ground where he maintains a strong presence on a daily basis. He writes news articles which are hard-hitting and accurate. With his strong bureaucratic sources, he frequently writes stories to expose the failure of the system forcing authorities to take necessary course-corrective steps. Besides crime, important convictions and court orders, he also writes on human-angle stories, on power issues and challenges faced by the residents on a daily basis in Gurugram and neighbouring areas. In the past, he worked for media houses like The Times of India, where he extensively reported on important government matters and daily proceedings at the Patna High Court. He has also worked in the electronic media and had done ground coverage on the Kedarnath deluge that wrecked Uttarakhand in 2013.Read More