Mumbai crime news: Woman loses more than Rs 3 lakh while trying to buy dry-fruits online

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A 54-year-old woman from Panvel in Maharashtra lost more than Rs three lakh to an online fraud while buying dry-fruits, police said on Wednesday.

As per the woman's complaint, she came upon an advertisement for a dry-fruits store on Facebook on September 20 and ordered some dry-fruits, newswire PTI reported.

When she contacted the number mentioned in the advertisement, the person at the other end instructed her about how to to make payment through a UPI-based app.

After she followed his instructions, he told her that the transaction had failed. But later she found out that Rs 3,09,337 had been withdrawn from her bank account.

She tried to contact the person again but he could not be reached on phone, she told police.

A case of cheating under Indian Penal Code section 420 and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act was registered at Panvel police station on Tuesday and probe was underway, police said.

Meanwhile, Police in Nagpur arrested a 19-year-old man for allegedly trying to kill a self-proclaimed godman as he took money from the former's family members under the pretext of bringing them good luck, an official said.

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The man, Mohammed Qureshi, was arrested on Tuesday and a case was registered against him at Panchpaoli police station, he said.

The self-styled godman, Baba Shaikh Umar, is 75 years old.

"The accused told the police that he took the step as his family members had come under the influence of the godman and they provided money to him as he promised to give 'tabeez' (amulet) to them for good luck and protection. He misled them into believing that he possessed supernatural powers," a police official said.

Qureshi was upset with the self-styled godman. At 7.15 pm on Tuesday, Qureshi stabbed Shaikh with a knife near Teka area, in which he suffered serious injuries, the official said.

Qureshi then fled from the scene. Shaikh was later taken to a hospital in a critical condition and is currently undergoing treatment, he said.

The accused was later arrested and a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 307 (attempt to murder) was registered against him, the police said. (With inputs from PTI)