The Vakola police recovered an amount of ₹24.7 lakh, which a shopkeeper had lost in an alleged cyber fraud after placing an order for 200 mobile phones at a wholesale rate. The cops said that they were able to recover the money lost in the fraud, as the complainant approached them well within the 'golden hours'.

According to Vakola police sources, the 26-year-old complainant had placed an order of 200 mobile phones in wholesale on August 19 from a Gwalior-based Raghuvanshi Dealers. A day after placing the order, the owner of the mobile dealers store, however, had switched off his phone and was unreachable. With no way of reaching the dealer, the complainant approached the Vakola police station and lodged a complaint.

Acting on the complaint, the police immediately alerted the recipient bank's nodal officer, sought the bank details and froze the recipient's account, restricting him from withdrawing or transferring the money. The Vakola police also contacted the beneficiary, who claimed that he was busy after accepting the order and his phone was out of coverage. "After considering the arguments and allegations from both the sides, it was revealed that there was a misunderstanding and the dealer was asked to write a cheque of ₹24.7 lakh to the complainant on Wednesday. Then, we informed the bank to unfreeze the account," said a police official.

Box-- The police said that the 'golden hours', which are the first few hours after the transaction, proved to be very crucial to recover the amount as once the time increases, the reversal of transaction is not possible either by the bank or the e-wallet.