Mumbai Crime: 3 held for cheating senior citizen of Rs 20 lakh on pretext of helping Covid-19 patients

All three accused are in police custody

The Powai police arrested three persons for allegedly defrauding a senior citizen of Rs 20 lakh on the pretext of helping Covid-19 patients.

The three accused have been identified as Rahul Tiwari, Asim Hussain and Asif Khan. All three are in police custody. The mastermind of the gang is absconding and police have launched a manhunt.

According to the police, the complainant, Raman Subramanyam (84), lives in Powai and is retired.

In April, a woman residing in London sent him a friend request on Facebook and he accepted the request. The two started chatting and discussed about the Covid-19 situation in India.

"The woman told Raman that she wants to help the needy patients in India and will send 1 lakh 30 thousand pounds for the same. After Raman agreed, he got a call from a woman, who identified herself as a customs officer. The woman told Raman that she has received a parcel from abroad containing foreign currency and told Raman to deposit money in a bank account to claim this amount. Raman deposited Rs 20.40 lakh in the bank account mentioned by the woman," the police said.

Even after Raman deposited the money, the woman kept demanding more money from him. Raman got suspicious and filed a complaint in Powai police station. The police registered a case of fraud against an unidentified person.

During the investigation, the police found out that the calls received by Raman were made from Delhi and Noida. A team of Powai police went to Noida and arrested three persons with the help of local police. The police seized 16 ATM cards, passbooks, checkbooks, five mobile phones and Aadhaar cards from the accused.

A Powai police official told mid-day, "The investigation has revealed that the gang used to cheat people and used women for the crime. The gang members had opened bank accounts by forging documents and were getting some commission for that."

DCP Dr Maheshwar Reddy told mid-day, "So far, three accused have been arrested by the Powai police and further investigation is on."