Engineer poses as FedEx official, cop to dupe woman of ₹14.36 lakh

A 28-year-old engineer has been arrested for reportedly extorting ₹14.36 lakh from a woman, while posing as a representative of a logistics firm and a police officer. According to the cyber police, the accused has been identified as Khushal Mali, a resident of Satpur in Nashik

Mumbai: A 28-year-old engineer has been arrested for reportedly extorting ₹14.36 lakh from a woman, while posing as a representative of a logistics firm and a police officer.

The police conducted technical investigations into the mobile numbers and bank accounts used by the accused and picked him up from his residence on January 10. He was remanded in police custody till Thursday, after which he was sent to judicial custody. (Stock Pic)

According to the cyber police, the accused has been identified as Khushal Mali, a resident of Satpur in Nashik.

Mali on January 9 called the 40-year-old woman, while pretending to be associated with FedEx. “Mali told the victim that a parcel she had sent abroad was found containing narcotics. Even though the woman had not sent any parcel, she was convinced that her identity and bank account were used for smuggling drugs,” a police officer said.

Shortly after the call, the woman received another call from Mali, who posed as a police officer this time. “He told her that while investigating the ‘drugs’, he examined her bank accounts and found evidence of money laundering, and hence, a serious probe had been launched against her. Mali also sent her a picture of a forged police ID card on WhatsApp in order to sell this lie,” the officer added.

Over the next one hour, Mali extorted a total of ₹14.36 lakh from the victim under various pretexts, promising to ‘close the investigation’. Mali kept threatening her with prison time throughout the conversation.

“It was only after she hung up the call, she suspected that she had been cheated, after which she rushed to the police station. As the complaint was received immediately after the crime, we were able to work with the concerned banks and freeze ₹13.98 lakh, while the rest had already been withdrawn,” the officer said.

Subsequently, the police conducted technical investigations into the mobile numbers and bank accounts used by Mali and picked him up from his residence on January 10. He was remanded in police custody till Thursday, after which he was sent to judicial custody.

“We have recovered 43 SIM cards from the accused’s house. According to inquiries, he used to work with a private firm but is currently unemployed, and has been running this racket for at least six months,” Balsing Rajput, deputy commissioner of police (Cyber), said.