Man cheated of Rs 3 lakh in fake KBC lucky draw

MUMBAI: A 56-year-old Andheri resident was duped of Rs 3.28 lakh by an unidentified person, who called and told him he had won Rs25 lakh in the Kaun Banega Crorepati

MUMBAI: A 56-year-old Andheri resident was duped of Rs 3.28 lakh by an unidentified person, who called and told him he had won Rs25 lakh in the Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) lucky draw.

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The victim has been identified as Shivaji Neelkanth.

The accused used SIM cards from Pakistan and said he was calling from Dubai.

He told Neelkanth that in order to complete the formalities and claim his prize, he had to deposit a certain amount of money in instalments in several bank accounts.

Neelkanth deposited Rs3.28 lakh in 10 instalments, which were between Rs35,000 to Rs50,000 “The accused then asked me to deposit an additional sum of Rs 25,000. I had borrowed money from my friends and also sold all my gold ornaments. I asked my son, who works in an IT firm, to arrange for more money,” he said.

“My son verified that the SIM card numbers used to contact me were from Pakistan. We approached the cyber police station in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC),” he said.

His son said that they visited the MIDC police station twice, but the on-duty officer told them to return the next day as the senior inspector was not present.

Senior inspector Shailesh Pasalwar of the MIDC police station said he was not aware of the case.

“If the cyber police have Neelkanth’s application, they will investigate and nab the culprit,” he added.