Mumbai Crime: Teenagers arrested for cheating fruit vendors in Ghatkopar

An astute fruit seller helped catch two youngsters trying to fleece him with fake messages of digital payments they never made The Pant Nagar police who arrested the duo said a gang had been operating for the past three months and targeted at least two other vendors using the same modusA 17yearold boy and 19yearold Abid Kamar Abbas Sayyed are among those apprehended while two of their accomplices are on the runThe fake SMSAround 3 pm on May 9 the duo came to Mahesh Guptarsquos shop at Hingwala Lane Ghatkopar East and enquired about the price of mango Gupta quoted R500 for a dozen and Abid asked him to pack two dozens of mangoes The teenager asked for his mobile number to make online paymentMeanwhile the minor boy asked him whether he had R5000 on him saying that he needed cash but didnrsquot have an ATM card An unsuspecting Gupta gave him the cashGupta then received an SMS that Rs 6000 had been debited to his account He checked his bank account statement but found no such transaction and informed the two young men The duo told him that the amount will reflect in some time but Gupta got agitated and asked them to leave the shopAlso Read DRDO scientist fell for her despite taking antihoney trap classArgument and copsldquoThis led to an argument between Gupta and the two youngsters Around 530 pm a police patrol van noticed the scuffle and stopped to check On hearing the entire episode from the fruit seller cops smelt a rat and took the duo to the police stationrdquo an officer from Pant Nagar police station saidldquoThree fruit sellers also followedrdquo he saidPolice said the preliminary investigation has revealed that the duo have so far cheated three vendors including Gupta so far to the tune of R28000 They have received more applications from others who also claimed to have been duped by the duo a few weeks backPSI Vilas Pansare who is the investigating officer in the case said the accused are residents of Govandi and had drafted a message in their mobile phones ldquoThey would change the amount before entering a shop and send the SMS after pretending to transfer moneyrdquo he addedCops check for other victimsldquoWe are questioning them to find out how they got the idea and how many sellers they have cheated Their bank accounts have to be verified for the transactionsrdquo Pansare saidPant Nagar police have filed a case under IPC Sections 420 cheating and 34 common intention against four people including Abid the minor and the two absconding menCops on Wednesday produced the minor before the juvenile justice board which sent him to remand homeldquoAs per the preliminary investigation the accused were active for over three months and the modus was exactly the same Cops are in touch with other fruit sellers to know if they were targetedrdquo said Senior Inspector Ravidutt Sawant of Pant Nagar police stationRs 28000Amount gang has stolen from 3 vendorsRs 5000Amount duo fleeces from Ghatkopar vendor