On Sunday, the Mumbai Police arrested a man for allegedly cheating a woman of Rs 4 Lakh on the pretext of supplying masks in view of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
According to reports, the accused was identified as Abrar Mushtaq. He was arrested from South Mumbai. The woman had placed an order through an online mart for 1.60 lakh masks which she wanted to export to her clients in Oman and France and gave Rs 4 lakh to Abrar Mushtaq.
Later, when the woman transferred Rs 4 lakh, she found the GST and ISO certificates furnished by Abrar were fake. That is when the woman realised that Abrar was cheating people. She then filed a complaint with the police. Acting on the complaint, Abrar was arrested under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and IT Act.
Earlier on Saturday, Pune police arrested three for allegedly selling substandard sanitisers. Police seized substandard sanitisers worth Rs 1.02 lakh and also confiscated product containers, empty bottles, caps, and labels from the possession of the accused.
Amid coronavirus outbreak, the demand for face masks and sanitisers has increased. The Maharashtra government ordered the state police to crack down on black marketing of masks and manufacturing of fake sanitisers in wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak. The state government has directed police to take action against those who spread fake news or misinformation under the Information Technology Act.
(Inputs from Agencies)