Mumbai: Student duped of Rs 44,200 after ordering 30,000 eggs

The complainant, Ajay Gupta, decided to become an egg wholesaler in 2021. Representation pic

The Charkop police have registered a case of cheating based on the complaint of a 22-year-old student. The complainant, Ajay Gupta, had ordered 30,000 eggs for his budding wholesale business in September 2021 and paid Rs 44,200 in advance to a man whom he came across through Justdial. Gupta - who had paid 40 per cent of the total amount, including Rs 10,200 in GST - was later asked to pay an additional Rs 42,750 for ‘insurance'. He refused and asked for a refund, but the accused, Gurmeet Singh, declined his request.

Gupta then went to the Charkop police station to register a complaint, but he alleged that the on-duty officer refused to do so. He then approached the court in May 2022, which ordered the police station to register the case. Three people were subsequently booked, on Tuesday. According to police sources, Gupta is a final-year BCom student and his father runs a fruit stall at Charkop Market. As he wanted to start his own business, he decided to become an egg wholesaler in 2021.

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The student told mid-day, "I happened to spot the address of Paradise Exports on Justdial and registered myself on the company's website. Within minutes, I received a call from the dealer, Singh, who asked for Rs 95 for a tray of 30 eggs. When I told him that I wanted 1,000 trays as I was starting a business, he agreed to supply them at the rate of Rs 85 per tray. When the deal was finalised, he asked me to deposit 40 per cent of the total amount and told me to pay the rest after receiving the shipment. Trusting him, I paid Rs 34,000."

After making the payment, Gupta said he asked when the eggs would be delivered, but Singh stated that the former had to first transfer the GST amount, which he did. "The same night I got a WhatsApp call from an unknown number and the caller told me not to make any more payments to the dealer. The person told me that Singh was a fraud who had cheated many others in a similar fashion," Gupta said.

"The next morning, I called Singh and informed him about the call but he told me that the caller was a liar. He also asked me to pay Rs 42,750." An officer of the Charkop police station said, "We have registered the case against the accused under Sections 120B, 34, 406, 420 of the Indian Penal Code and various sections of the IT Act."