East region cyber police arrested a 30-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh (UP) for allegedly duping his friend to the tune of Rs 2.6 lakh. The accused, Pradip Kumar Sahu, allegedly stole his friend's mobile phone and transferred the money from his digital wallet.
In the third week of May, the cyber police registered an offence of online cheating after a person gained access to the complainant's digital wallet and duped him of Rs 2.6 lakh. During investigation, they realised that the money had been deposited in two bank accounts located in Pratapgarh and Allahabad in UP. The accounts belonged to two people who operate customer service centres of a bank.
Soon, a police team left for UP and questioned the two people in whose accounts the money had been deposited. They denied the charges and claimed that a woman had sought their help for her brother's operation. They had given their accounts for transaction and gave her cash, they claimed.
When the police traced the woman, it was revealed that she is the wife of Sahu, a friend of the complainant. The two used to stay together in Mumbai during the lockdown. Sahu had recently returned to his native place. The woman said that her husband had used the money to build their house. Sahu was then taken into custody. From his possession, the complainant's mobile phone was recovered along with two other phones, six debit cards and Rs 1 lakh in cash, said a police officer.
According to the police, it was Sahu who helped the victim, an auto rickshaw driver, to install the digital wallet on his mobile. When he linked his mobile number to the bank account, he was shocked to find Rs 2.6 lakh in his account and decided to dupe him. The auto rickshaw driver had saved the money for his marriage, said the police.
"The accused was brought to Mumbai and was produced before Kurla court, which remanded him to police custody till Tuesday,'' said Rajesh Nagwade, senior inspector of east region cyber police station.
