Three booked by Pune police for duping NDA aspirant of Rs 1.3 lakh

Fraudsters first contacted the victim via email in 2016 when he was 18-year-old and had appeared for the NDA entrance exam

Three unidentified people were booked by the Pune police on Thursday for forging documents and duping an aspirant of the National Defence Academy (NDA) of Rs 1.32 lakh.

Three unidentified people were booked by the Pune police on Thursday for forging documents and duping an aspirant of the National Defence Academy (NDA) of Rs 1.32 lakh.(REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

The police are on the lookout for the three men while a statement is awaited from the defence spokesperson of NDA.

The victim has been identified as Navin Tripathi (22), a resident of Uttar Pradesh. The aspirant realised that he had been given fake documents when he reached the NDA institute on January 1, 2020.

The fraudsters first contacted Navin via email in 2016 when he was 18-year-old and had appeared for the NDA entrance exam.

“We have the name of the mastermind and his contact details. We have written to the cybercrime police station and the zone office for help,” said senior inspector Sunil Pandharkar of Uttamnagar police station.

Most of the communication was done over email and letters, according to the complainant. In 2016, he had first received an email to attend an interview in Gujarat. In 2017, after several meetings and correspondence, the complainant was told that the training he was supposed to undergo has been cancelled. After two years, he got another email asking him to come to Pune.

“He met the man and his friends in Garden Court Hotel in Chandani chowk where he had handed over a demand draft required for the admission to the course,” said Pandharkar.

The complainant has claimed that there were other students present at the hotel in 2019. However, the police have only received only Navin’s complaint. The police are also investigating the source of information about NDA entrance applicants for the fraudsters.

A case was registered at Uttamnagar police station under Sections 420 (punishment for cheating), 419 (personation), 464 (making false documents), 465 (punishment for forgery), and 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) of Indian Penal Code against the accused.