Mumbai: Two held for duping man of ₹7.2L in OLX fraud at Andheri

The Versova Police arrested two men for allegedly cheating a man of ₹7.22 lakh in an OLX fraud on the pretext of selling household items and electronics at a handsome rate, way below the market price. While a case was registered in August last year, the arrest was made on Monday evening at Andheri. They have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act.

Last year between July 25 and August 8, a man was looking at a few products online on a portal OLX, wherein users can sell their products using the platform. During the search, he came across a good offer wherein a man was selling over nine television sets, three washing machines, five home theater systems, two cameras, five mobile phones, Apple watches, 10 laptops, iPad, soundbar, and Mac Book Pro, all at a rate as cheap as ₹7.22 lakh. Finding it as a handsome deal, the complainant wired the money to procure the products in a series of transactions, only to be cheated and never receive the products.

Having realised that he had been duped, the victim approached police and lodged a complaint at Versova police station, wherein a case of cheating was recorded against unknown persons. Police began the probe and based on a technical investigation like tracing the mobile location, police learnt that the accused were based in an Andheri highrise. Subsequently, a trap was laid and two accused-- Salman Mohd Israr Shaikh, 28, and Mohsin Ahmed Javed Khan, 29, were arrested on Monday.

During interrogation, police learnt about the duo's involvement in a number of cheating cases using the same modus operandi. Police are now trying to ascertain if the duo had any accomplices and find a lot of victims they have duped on the pretext of selling products on the OLX platform. Both accused were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology for cheating, common intention. They were produced in a local magistrate court and remanded in police custody.