Cyber fraud dupes retired MbPT official using patriotic slogans

As per the Navghar police, the complainant, Narendra Hadkar, stays with his family in the Gawanpada, Mulund and used to work as a clerk in the MbPT’s civil engineering department.

Mumbai: A 60-year-old retired Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) employee lost ₹6.50 lakh after a cyber-fraud – posing as a CISF constable looking to sell his car – lured him by invoking “vardi ki kasam” and “Bharat Mata ki kasam” in December last year.

The victim called the accused saying he would only make the full payment once the car had been delivered to him and during this conversation, the accused swore by his uniform as well as the nation, asking the victim to trust him. As the victim, too, had worked in a government department, he was taken in and sent the amount to the account. (Image for representation)

As per the Navghar police, the complainant, Narendra Hadkar, stays with his family in the Gawanpada, Mulund and used to work as a clerk in the MbPT’s civil engineering department. In 2019, he took voluntary retirement and recently decided to buy a second-hand car, so that he could start a car rental business.

“On December 19, 2022, Hadkar saw an ad on Facebook by a man identifying himself as Ashok Karnik, who was willing to sell a Maruti Suzuki Alto for ₹45,000. Hadkar got in touch with Karnik and made a deal. During this time, Karnik identified himself as a constable with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF),” said a police officer with the Navghar police station.

The officer added that the same night, Karnik sent Hadkar pictures of the car’s documents via WhatsApp and said that he would get the car delivered from Hyderabad in an Indian Army truck. The next morning, Hadkar received a call, supposedly from a delivery boy, who said that he had left Hyderabad and that Hadkar would have to make an advance payment.

“Hadkar called Karnik saying he would only make the full payment once the car had been delivered to him and during this conversation, Karnik swore by his uniform as well as the nation, asking Hadkar to trust him. As Hadkar, too, had worked in a government department, he was taken in and sent the amount to the account that Karnik had specified,” the officer said.

However, Karnik kept calling and saying he had not received the money, repeatedly invoking uniform and country, till Hadkar had sent a total of ₹6.50 lakh to various accounts. Karnik assured Hadkar that he would sort out the issue and refund the extra money back to him immediately. However, after that, there was no sign of Karnik, the money or the car.

On Saturday, Hadkar suddenly received a call from Karnik, who ‘requested’ him to send another ₹1.50 lakh due to an emergency. Hadkar immediately approached the police and registered an FIR. “We have booked the accused for cheating and impersonation under the Indian Penal Code, along with relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and are obtaining technical information of the Facebook account and mobile number used by him,” said the officer.