Bhubaneswar: The city cops have busted an online shopping racket with the arrest of its mastermind who duped victims of over Rs 10lakh.
The accused was Rashmi Ranjan Pani (33) a resident of Balasore district. His Facebook status read: “Impossible means I am possible and there is no such work on the earth which a man can’t do.”
City police commissioner Y B Khurania said Pani was arrested by a special investigation team from his residence in the city.
The matter came to light after an Indore-based businessman, Chirag Jain, sent an e-mail to the commissioner saying he had placed an order with Pani’s Gateway Foundation to purchase garments worth Rs 15,000, but did not receive the consignment.
“The accused had opened an online shopping centre, called Gateway Foundation and lured people by posting pictures of branded garments. His promise was that he would supply items at low rates. He used to market his products via Facebook and WhatsApp and sought online payments,” the commissioner said.
This way, he duped 12 people, as per information the police collected so far.
A police team caught him by tracking the International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (IMEI) number of his mobile phone. He had used multiple SIMs and, after his conversation with a customer, he would dispose of the SIM.
During investigation, it emerged that around Rs 10lakh had been deposited in Pani’s company bank account within a year. He withdrew this money a few weeks ago. The address proof he had furnished to open his bank account turned out to be fake, police noted.
PNN