A man from Amravati has been apprehended by the police on charges of swindling people engaged in online hotel reservations. The primary suspect, who has allegedly duped over 42 individuals online, including foreign nationals, is now in custody.
According to details provided by the V P Road Police, a complaint was lodged by Dilip Somnath Limbichiya (57), who claimed to have fallen victim to the scam. Limbichiya had attempted to secure a room at the Elogia Hotel in Ahmedabad through a booking application. Shortly after initiating the booking process, he received a phone call from the accused purporting to represent Hotel Elogia.
Police revealed that the caller demanded a 50 percent advance payment to confirm the room reservation. Limbichiya, trusting the caller's authenticity, agreed to the terms and transferred ₹20,886 via Google Pay to the provided phone number.
Recipient's account did not match the hotel's name
However, after transferring the funds, Limbichiya grew suspicious as the recipient's account did not match the hotel's name. He conducted an online search, found the hotel's official phone number, and upon contacting them, realised he had been deceived.
Promptly reporting the incident to the V P Road police station, Senior Police Inspector Kishore Shinde initiated an investigation. Subsequently, Police Sub-Inspector Rahul Patil apprehended the primary suspect, Kunal Kamlesh Gupta (25), in Amravati.
Upon further inquiry and scrutiny of Gupta's bank account, it was uncovered that he had defrauded 42 individuals under the guise of booking hotel rooms, even extending his deceit to foreign visitors.
Authorities have registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Gupta under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology Act, subsequently placing him under arrest. Gupta confessed to working as a sales executive in a private firm and disclosed that he had access to an application enabling him to identify individuals who had booked rooms in various hotels.
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