Associate professor duped of Rs 52 lakh with promise of cheap machinery; FIR filed against five men
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Kalaburagi: Chowk Police have filed an FIR against five men, based on the allegations made by a former associate professor that the men had duped him of Rs 52 lakh after promising to provide equipment for his factory at a low rate.
The accused are identified as KB Dayanand, Sabih Chirukul, Anuj Salti, Shoaib and Abdul Zaleel Gajari.
The complainant, Anand Nayak Dharmanna, who was working as associate professor at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Kalaburagi, had planned to open a gram mill in Vijayapura. Shoaib and Dayanand, who met him in Bengaluru, offered him help to purchase machinery worth Rs 2 crore for the unit at only Rs 1.62 crore from Dubai.
Shoaib and Dayanand took Rs 62 lakh from Dharmanna in phases but did not get him the promised machines even after a few months. When Dharmanna demanded that the men return him the money, they gave him only Rs 10 lakh back, retaining up to Rs 52 lakh. When he tried to call them, the phone sounds switched off, the complainant told the police.
The Chowk Police have registered a case against Shoaib and Dayanand as well as three of their acquaintances, who are suspected to be involved in duping the associate professor. Further investigation is underway.
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Senior citizen duped of Rs 23.5 lakh on threat of digital arrest in Thane district
Thane (PTI): A 68-year-old man was allegedly cheated of Rs 23.5 lakh by cyber fraudsters who threatened him with digital arrest in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Monday.
This is a second such incident reported in the district this week, an official said.
Based on a complaint, the Kalyan police have registered a case under relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, Assistant Inspector Vinod Patil of Mahatma Phule police station said.
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"The complainant alleged that two unidentified persons cheated him of Rs 23.5 lakh by threatening to place him under digital arrest and forced him to transfer money through online transactions between December 8 and 12," Patil said.
'Digital arrest’ is a growing form of cybercrime in which fraudsters pose as law enforcement officials or personnel of government agencies and intimidate victims through audio/video calls. They hold the victims hostage and put pressure on them to pay money.
He said that the accused allegedly contacted the victim on WhatsApp video calls and claimed that his bank transactions were suspicious and linked to alleged irregularities.
"The fraudsters told him that he could be placed under digital arrest, but assured him that they would help him avoid legal action if he cooperated," the officer said.
He said that the accused repeatedly threatened the senior citizen and put pressure on him to make multiple online money transfers amounting to Rs 23.5 lakh.
The fraud came to light after the victim narrated the incident to acquaintances and approached the police on realising he had been duped.
"We are analysing bank transaction details, call records and digital evidence to track down the accused," Patil said.
