Maharashtra: Man duped of Rs 22 lakh by cyber fraudster

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A 34-year-old man from Panvel in Maharashtra's Raigad district lost nearly Rs 22 lakh after he was lured into investing the amount into an e-commerce business, police said, reported news agency PTI.

The incident occurred between May and June 2023, they said, reported PTI.

"The victim had joined a WhatsApp group in the first week of May. One of the group members lured him into investing money into an e-commerce website, saying that it was necessary for delivery of different items on sale on the platform. He was also told that his money would be returned in a month," a police official said, reported PTI.

The other person later sent him a screenshot that articles worth USD 56,000 have been sold on the platform, he said, reported PTI.

In his complaint, the victim said he had transferred Rs 21,97,350 to the unidentified accused, which he was never got back, reported PTI.

The case was registered at the Cyber Police Station in Navi Mumbai, reported PTI.

In another case, police have registered a case against three unidentified persons for allegedly abducting a 27-year-old man who worked in a fabrication unit in Maharashtra's Thane city and extorting Rs 48,000 from him, an official said on Thursday, reported PTI.

The man was standing near a hotel in Wagle Estate area here on November 20 evening when the trio approached him, reported PTI.

They accused the man of eve-teasing and then forcibly took him away in an auto-rickshaw, the official from Wagle Estate police station said quoting the complaint, reported PTI.

The accused drove the auto-rickshaw to an isolated place where they closed the man's eyes with a piece of cloth and snatched Rs 8,000 from him. They also forced him to transfer Rs 40,000 from his bank account to their account, the police said, reported PTI.

The accused later pushed the man out of the auto-rickshaw near Nitin Company junction in the city, the complainant alleged, reported PTI.

Based on the complaint, the police on Wednesday registered a case against the unidentified persons under Indian Penal Code sections 386 (extortion), 364A (kidnapping for ransom), 392 (robbery) and 34 (common intention) and a probe was on into it, the official said, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)