Lucknow man loses Rs 1.92 crore to cyber fraudster posing as woman
Lucknow (PTI): For a Lucknow man, a WhatsApp friendship with a 'woman' that began with casual chats and calls ended in a Rs 1.92 crore cyber fraud. Then came the second shock -- the person he had been talking to was a man who posed as a woman to lure him into investing money in fake schemes.
Police here have arrested the accused, identified as Imran Ghazi (34), a resident of Mishripur Depot area under Gudamba police station here, officials said on Tuesday.
Shalabh Pandey lodged a complaint on June 2, 2025, that a woman, who identified herself as Bhavika Shetty, befriended him on WhatsApp and gradually persuaded him to invest money by promising high returns. He transferred Rs 1.92 crore to various bank accounts and later found that it was a cyber fraud, police said.
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An FIR was registered at the Cyber Crime police station here under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66(D) (cheating by personation using computer resources) of the Information Technology Act.
Following an investigation, a police team arrested Ghazi on Tuesday, the officials said.
During questioning, the accused told police that after his Axis Bank account was frozen, he procured forged Aadhaar and PAN cards and opened multiple bank accounts with the help of an associate, Shehzad, to receive fraud proceeds, they said.
Police said Rs 54 lakh of the cheated amount was routed through Ghazi's accounts, which showed transactions of about Rs 1.52 crore within a month.
Fake identity documents were recovered from the possession of the accused. Further investigation is underway to trace other members of the racket, they said.
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UP: Girl raped by two youths, juvenile at Banda hotel, all accused held
Banda (UP) (PTI): A 15-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly abducted and gang-raped at a hotel here by two youths and a minor, who then abandoned her under a bridge, police said on Thursday.
The two youths involved in the crime were arrested, and the juvenile was apprehended on Wednesday, they said.
According to Atarra Circle Officer Praveen Yadav, the arrested have been identified as Mahesh Kushwaha (18), Shakti Singh (19), and a 15-year-old boy, all residents of Girwan.
He said the incident took place around 8.30 pm on Tuesday.
The complaint filed by the girl's father stated that his daughter had gone to the market in Atarra town with a friend, when the three accused on a motorcycle made her inhale some intoxicant. They took the semi-conscious teenager to a hotel on Station Road, committed the crime and then abandoned her under the Ken Canal bridge before fleeing, CO Yadav said.
A case was registered on Wednesday, and all the accused were held, the CO said.
He added that one of the arrested accused was a former acquaintance of the victim. RUK
