Man sends fake Turkish visa to Dongri man, dupes him of Rs 2.46 lakhs

The accused Mohammad Zakir Zaheeruddin. Picture/ Vishal Singh

The Dongri police has arrested a man from Hyderabad through honey trap for duping a resident of Dongri of Rs 2.46 lakhs after promising him a visa. The cops, arrested accused Mohammad Zakir Zaheeruddin (35) from Hyderabad, with the of local police officers.

According to the police, the complainant Abbas Merchant was supposed to go to Turkey for which he needed a visa. When Merchant searched for an online visa agent, he found Zaheeruddin's contact after which he approached him and asked to apply for the visa.

Merchant told Zaheeruddin over the phone that he needed a visa to travel to Turkey, to which Zaheeruddin assured Merchant of getting the visa and told him to send his documents which he did.

A few days later, Zaheeruddin sent Merchant a visa to go to Turkey and in return sent a bank account number and told him to deposit Rs 2.65 lakhs which he deposited. After sending the money, when the Merchant checked the visa, he realised that it was fake. Merchant then called Zaheeruddin but he did not attend the call. Later Merchant saw that Zaheeruddin had switched off his mobile.

Merchant, after realising that Zaheeruddin had cheated him, lodged a complaint at the Dongri police station. After registering the case, the police investigated and tracked Zaheeruddin to Hyderabad. The Dongri police reached Hyderabad to arrest Zaheeruddin, but it was difficult to find him in the area where he lives.

The people of the area where Zaheeruddin lived allegedly spoke to the cops in abusive language. Dongri police officer API Prakash Linge and his team took the help of Panjagutta Police of Hyderabad and hatched a plan to nab the culprit. The police told the cops at Panjagutta police station to call a woman for help, and asked her to call Zaheeruddin. As per the Dongri police's plan, the woman called Zaheeruddin and said that his parcel had arrived from the courier and the delivery boy could not reach his address, so he would have to come and pick up the parcel himself. After the woman's call, Zaheeruddin came to pick up the parcel and the police arrested him.

"We arrested Zaheeruddin from Hyderabad and produced him in court, he was sent to police custody till February 21. The investigation is underway," said Dongri police PI Shashikant Padave.

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