A Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) lawyer was duped of ₹75,000 by a fraudster who posed as an army personnel.
Police said the matter dates back to October 31, 2019, when complainant VM Handa, a resident of Sector 6, Panchkula, received a call on his mobile number from an unidentified person who introduced himself as Manjeet Singh and said that he was in Indian Army.
The person told Handa that he wanted to engage him for a civil case to be filed in the HC. He took Handa into confidence, saying that his wife would meet him (Handa) the next day at his residence. On inquiring about the fees to be paid to Handa, the accused told him that he was posted in Kashmir and could not come for the same in person. “The person told me that he was ready to deposit half of the fees in my bank account. Later, he asked for my ATM card number and other details, saying that he would transfer the money from his ATM,” Handa told police.
TRANSACTIONS MADE IN FOUR INSTALMENTS
Investigating official in the case, sub-inspector (SI) Suraj Mal, said that without doubting the caller’s integrity, lawyer Handa gave him his ATM debit card number. “The accused then did some transactions and asked Handa for a one-time password (OTP) received on his mobile phone. The complainant has submitted that he did not read the messages and gave four OTPs, one after the other, to the accused who claimed that the transactions were not successful,” the SI said.
Police said that four transactions of different amount and totalling to ₹75,000 were made from the complainant’s bank account. When the complainant got suspicious and tried calling the accused, his number was switched off and when the complainant got suspicious, he got his debit card and bank account blocked. “We have initiated further investigation in the matter and registered a case under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code at Sector 5 police station,” SI Mal said.
{{/usCountry}}Police said that four transactions of different amount and totalling to ₹75,000 were made from the complainant’s bank account. When the complainant got suspicious and tried calling the accused, his number was switched off and when the complainant got suspicious, he got his debit card and bank account blocked. “We have initiated further investigation in the matter and registered a case under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code at Sector 5 police station,” SI Mal said.
{{/usCountry}}