Ghaziabad: Two women arrested for cheating man of ₹98 lakh, five at large

The police got on their track based on a complaint by a Ghaziabad resident, who said he was cheated of ₹98 lakh on the pretext of getting a lucrative job overseas

Two women were arrested in Ghaziabad on Friday for cheating people on the pretext of providing them jobs in companies abroad, police officers aware of the matter said.

The suspects were identified as Neha Sharma, 24, and her mother, Sudesh Devi, 50, both residents of Khichdipur in east Delhi. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

While the total number of victims of the women is being ascertained, the police got on their track based on a complaint given by a Ghaziabad resident, who said he was cheated of ₹98 lakh on the pretext of getting a lucrative job overseas, said investigators.

The complaint in this case was registered by Animesh Prasad, a resident of Wave City. The police registered a first information report under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 506 (criminal intimidation) at Wave City police station on September 18 against seven named suspects, including the two women.

The suspects were identified as Neha Sharma, 24, and her mother, Sudesh Devi, 50, both residents of Khichdipur in east Delhi.

Neha collected data of job seekers from an online job portal and then would call them and introduce herself as a senior official who provided jobs and trapped people, said investigators.

In his complaint, Prasad said he received a call from them in April 2021, where they asked him to deposit about ₹1 crore in an account to get a job, said a police officer associated with the case.

Since then, Prasad deposited ₹98,94,724 in different online wallets belonging to the suspects, but he never received a job. Once, the suspects even called him for an interview at a location near the Indira Gandhi International Airport, which they claimed was their office, Prasad said in his complaint.

“Neha worked at the office while her mother aided her in duping people. There are five other suspects in the case, and our teams will arrest them soon. The complainant had been cheated since April 2021, on the pretext of an overseas job. He transferred ₹98 lakh so far and then got suspicious. He then approached us and sought help,” said Saloni Agarwal, assistant commissioner of police (Wave City).

“We have recovered a list and other documents and material from Neha. We suspect more people, such as Prasad, could have been cheated by the suspects. We are investigating further,” said ACP Agarwal.