A businessman has ended up paying ₹ 26 lakh for a Siberian Husky puppy that he never got.
In 2021, Sharad Srivastava, a resident of Vikas Nagar, decided to buy a Siberian husky puppy, which costs between ₹ 50,000 and 60,000 in India.
In his search for the breed, Srivastava stumbled upon a mobile number of an Aizawl-based pet dog seller company.
The company, which had reportedly delivered the rare puppies to influential people across India, asked Srivastava to pay ₹ 15,000, which he did on June 19, 2021.
In his FIR, Srivastava claimed that he paid several instalments to the company totalling ₹ 26 lakh in the name of insurance, breeder's licence and on other counts on regular intervals, through bank transfer.
Srivastava paid ₹ 2 lakh for home delivery of the puppy
Srivastava, who made the last payment on March 7, 2022, said, "If that was not enough, I was further asked to pay ₹ 2 lakh as delivery charges and Rs 60,000 for home delivery of the puppy."
He went to the police after the fraudsters demanded another ₹ 7 lakh from him and threatened to kill him when he refused and demanded the delivery of the puppy.
His FIR, however, was not lodged, prompting him to move court.
On the court's direction, an FIR against Aizawl-based pet dog sellers, Rupa, Raju Shanker, Vinod, Rajni Rao of Vibhuti Khand and other unidentified persons was lodged in the city on Wednesday.
As per the FIR, one of the accused R.K. Verma died due to Covid in 2021.
SHO, Vikasnagar, Ajay Kumar Singh, said that an FIR under the charges of IPC 406 (breach of trust), 420(cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) has been registered against the accused and a probe is underway.
"We are checking the bank account details of the victim," said the SHO.
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