The Badlapur police have registered a criminal offence against two persons and a bogus website for allegedly duping a 27-year-old woman to the tune of Rs 2.73 lakh on the pretext of providing her a loan under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY). The police have initiated a probe into the case.
According to the police, the complainant, who is a Badlapur resident, on May 5, while surfing the internet, came across a website, which promised a loan. Believing that the said website was linked with PMMY, the victim registered herself on the said website and opted for the Rs 10 to Rs 15 lakh loan requirement. The victim then filled all her details on the website along with her contact number.
"As per the victim, the next day she received a phone call from one Pankaj Bhadauria who made inquiries with the victim about the loan request she had made on the website and informed the victim that he had called to complete the loan process. He said that the website he works for is linked with the PMMY with the registered office at Kolkata. The victim then demanded for identification proof from the caller, after which he shared his identity documents with the victim," said a police officer.
He added, "Bhadauria also shared a loan approval document of one of the applicants with the victim. Bhadauria and his accomplice Amit Singh then induced the victim to pay up Rs 2.73 lakh on various pretexts to get her loan sanctioned over a period of one month. However, when the victim inquired with the duo about the loan amount, they used to make further demands for money. The victim later realised that she was being duped."
The victim then approached the police and got a complaint registered against Bhadauria, Singh and the bogus website under sections 34 (common intention), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 465 (punishment for forgery) of the Indian Penal Code.
