Scam on wheels: Mumbai cabbie charges tourist Rs 18,000 for 400-metre ride, held
Mumbai (PTI): A 50-year-old taxi driver has been arrested for allegedly charging a US tourist a whopping Rs 18,000 in what may have been the most expensive 400-metre ride through the Mumbai traffic, police said on Friday.
The police on Tuesday apprehended Deshraj Yadav, who allegedly picked up the tourist from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and dropped her off at a five-star hotel near the facility, an official said.
The incident came to light after the tourist took to social media to share her experience about her expensive ride in the city.
"Landed in Mumbai recently and took a taxi to @HiltonHotels. The driver and another guy took us to an unknown location first, charged us $200 (Rs 18,000), and then dropped us at the hotel, which was only 400m away. Taxi No: MH 01 BD 5405," Argentina Ariano (@ArgentinaAriano) wrote in a post on X.
The police swung into action, registering a suo motu FIR earlier this week and nabbed Yadav within three hours. The foreign national, however, could not be contacted, the official said.
A probe revealed that the accused took the woman for a 20-minute drive around Andheri East before returning to the same area and dropping her off at the hotel, where he collected the inflated fare, he said, adding that a search is underway for Yadav's accomplice.
A case has been registered against Yadav under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and the process has been initiated to cancel his driving licence, the official said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Illegal betting case: ED attaches ₹177 crore assets linked to Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra
Bengaluru: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has attached assets worth ₹177.3 crore belonging to Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra, also known as ‘Puppy’, and his associates in connection with an illegal online betting and gambling case, Deccan Herald reported.
According to the ED, the attached properties include immovable assets such as agricultural land and residential sites, along with other movable assets. The agency said these assets are believed to be proceeds of crime generated through illegal online betting and gambling activities.
The ED claimed that its investigation uncovered that Veerendra and his associates were the masterminds behind a nationwide illegal online betting network operating with the same modus operandi.
“The investigation has established that the accused generated substantial proceeds of crime by cheating the public through online betting and impersonation scams. In the scheme, unsuspecting players were induced to stake money on rigged illegal gaming websites, which functioned like online casinos. Their deposits, running into crores of rupees, were collected through payment gateways into designated payment aggregator accounts,” Deccan Herald quoted the agency as saying.
“The victims were initially shown fake winnings to build trust and were later blocked from withdrawing money. The investigation revealed the use of hundreds of mule accounts and multiple payment gateways for laundering the proceeds of crime,” the agency said.
Earlier, the ED carried out search and seizure operations at more than 60 locations across several states, during which large quantities of cash, gold bullion, gold and silver jewellery, vehicles, digital devices and incriminating documents were seized.
The ED also arrested Veerendra under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and a prosecution complaint has been filed before the Special PMLA court. Based on the evidence gathered, the agency has provisionally attached properties held directly and indirectly by him, which are believed to be linked to money laundering.
“With this, the ED has attached assets worth more than ₹320 crore in the present case under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002. Further, during the course of the investigation, proceeds of crime exceeding ₹2,300 crore have been identified so far, which were generated through illegal online betting and gambling activities and subsequently laundered through multiple layers of transactions,” the agency said.
