Mumbai: Kurar Police have arrested five persons for duping a senior citizen of Rs 14.40 lakh in an online fraud on the pretext of buying exotic chemicals that could be used in cancer treatment. One of the accused posed as an England-based assistant manager of a pharmaceutical company and began chatting with the complainant through a messenger application. Police have booked five men under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act.
Police said that on May 25, the complainant Jagjitsingh Garcha (73), received a message on Hi5 messenger from a woman, who introduced herself as Rosemary Kristen. As time passed, Garcha and Kristen began chatting daily on WhatsApp. While chatting, Kristen told the senior citizen that she was working as an assistant manager at an England-based Octa pharmaceutical company, which produces cancer-curing medicines. Moreover, Kristen also messaged him claiming that she was in Goa for an assignment and could get him the cancer-curing chemical. The only condition put forth was that he will have to purchase a minimum of three litres to avail a discount. Garcha agreed to buy it for USD 6,700, equivalent to Rs 14.40 lakh. After Garcha wired the money to S.G.Enterprises, Kristen conveniently disconnected her number, leaving the senior citizen in a lurch.
Realising that he was duped, Garcha immediately approached Kurar Police, who tracked the number and began investigation. "We got the information that this gang duped scores of citizens using the same modus operandi. One of the accused would pose as a female foreign bank official and lure citizens with cancer curing treatment, subsequently duping them," said D S Swami, deputy commissioner of police (zone 12). On September 26, police received a tip-off about the accused persons and laid a trap for them. Police then arrested Mohammad Saijad (41), Iftiqar Shaikh (30), Masqur Ahmed Siddiqui (38), Mohammad Baban Shaikh (30) and Kaushal Mandaliya (28). Police recovered the full amount of Rs 14.40 lakhs from the accused persons and also seized ATM cards of different banks, a car, a laptop, a tablet, a two wheeler and nine mobile phones of different companies.
