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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Virat Kohli returns to top of ICC ODI batting rankings after nearly five years
New Delhi: Virat Kohli’s resurgence in one-day internationals has seen him reclaim the top spot in the ICC ODI batting rankings for the first time in almost five years, according to the latest update released by the International Cricket Council on Wednesday.
The ranking update was issued shortly before India’s second ODI against New Zealand at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot. Kohli, 37, displaced teammate Rohit Sharma to move back to No. 1, a position he last held on April 2, 2021.
Kohli gained 12 rating points to reach 785, overtaking Rohit, who slipped six points to drop from 781 to 775. New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell rose to second place with a career-best rating of 784, just one point behind Kohli.
This marks a significant milestone in Kohli’s career, coming after a long wait to regain the summit in the 50-over format. Between 2017 and early 2021, Kohli enjoyed a sustained run of four consecutive years as the world’s top-ranked ODI batter. He was then overtaken by Babar Azam, who held the No. 1 position for the next four calendar years.
