Fake website offering Kerala lottery tickets detected, cyber police launch probe
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): A probe has been launched after authorities detected a fake website of the Kerala lottery offering online ticket purchase, police said on Thursday.
The Thiruvananthapuram Cyber Police registered a case and began an investigation following a complaint lodged by the Deputy Director of the Kerala Lottery Directorate on Tuesday, officials said.
According to police, the Kerala Lottery Directorate recently learned of the fake website keralastatelottery.site.
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The website carried the department's official emblem, pictures of Kerala ministers, and details taken from the official website, police said.
Claiming to be the official website, it is suspected of running fake online lotteries that offer rewards.
Police said that people who logged in to the website were also provided with lottery details via WhatsApp.
Police said the number of people who may have lost money after purchasing lotteries on the website is under investigation.
Details are also being collected about those who created and operated the website, police added.
The case has been registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act for cheating and impersonation.
Kerala lotteries are widely popular, and people from neighbouring states also purchase tickets.
The Kerala Lottery department conducts lottery draws daily.
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Man booked for duping Thane family of Rs 1.66 crore with ‘black magic’ claims
Thane (PTI): A family from Maharashtra's Thane district was allegedly swindled of more than Rs 1.66 crore by a man who exploited their fear of "black magic" and promised them divine remedies through elaborate rituals and pilgrimages, police said on Sunday.
The Kasarvadavali police district on April 2 registered a first information report (FIR) against Manjunath Shetty, a resident of Andheri in neighbouring Mumbai, based on the family's allegations that they were manipulated into paying the accused over a period of two years to "neutralise black magic" performed by a relative, an official said.
According to the complaint, the family's ordeal began in January 2024 when they met Shetty at an event, and on learning about their financial struggles, he convinced them that their relative had performed "black magic" on them to hinder their progress.
To counter this, Shetty prescribed a series of elaborate rituals and a mandatory pilgrimage to the 12 Jyotirlingas, temples of Lord Shiva, and by exploiting a series of minor mishaps in the family, he allegedly manipulated them into making several payments, the official said.
Between February and April 2024, he took Rs 10 lakh in cash to purchase ritual materials, and from May 2024 to January 2026, the family transferred approximately Rs 1.56 crore through online transactions to various bank accounts belonging to the accused and his mother, he said.
The accused also claimed he needed money for pending court cases, warning that if he were jailed, the rituals would remain incomplete, and that the family's situation would never improve, the official said.
While no arrest has been made as yet, the police have registered a case against Shetty under section 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant provisions of the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013, he said.
