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Man held for duping Lucknow resident of ₹1.92 crore in investment fraud
According to police, the case was registered on June 2, 2025, following a complaint by Shalabh Pandey, who alleged that a woman identifying herself as “Bhavika Shetty” contacted him on WhatsApp and gradually became friends with him. Through chats and phone calls, he was allegedly persuaded to invest money on the promise of high returns.
A 34-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly cheating a city resident of ₹1.92 crore by luring him into fake investment schemes through WhatsApp, Lucknow cybercrime police said on Tuesday.
“The accused has been identified as Imran Ghazi, a resident of Mishripur Depot under Gudamba police station limits. He was arrested in connection with an FIR registered at the cybercrime police station under sections 318(4), 319(2), 336(3), 338 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act,” SHO (cybercrime) Brijesh Yadav said.
According to police, the case was registered on June 2, 2025, following a complaint by Shalabh Pandey, who alleged that a woman identifying herself as “Bhavika Shetty” contacted him on WhatsApp and gradually became friends with him. Through chats and phone calls, he was allegedly persuaded to invest money on the promise of high returns.
“The victim was induced to transfer a total of ₹1,92,92,000 into multiple bank accounts. Later, it emerged that the entire operation was a cyber fraud,” a senior police officer said.
According to officials, a special team supervised by senior officers, including the deputy commissioner of police (crime), cracked the case. During interrogation, Imran Ghazi allegedly confessed that after his bank account was frozen, he procured forged Aadhaar and PAN cards to open multiple bank accounts. He further revealed that he came in contact with a person named Shehzad (full details unknown), who facilitated the opening of these accounts using fake documents.
The SHO said that ₹54 lakh of the total amount was directly transferred into the accused’s accounts. “An analysis of bank statements showed that within just one month, transactions worth ₹1.52 crore had taken place through these accounts,” the SHO added.
Investigators recovered one forged Aadhaar card and one forged PAN card from the accused. Police believe the gang used social media platforms to create fake identities, lure victims with promises of high investment returns, and then siphon off the money through multiple accounts on a commission basis.
