Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police have arrested a 27-year-old man from Gujarat’s Rajkot district for his alleged involvement in duping an engineer from the eastern state of Rs 7 lakh.
The accused, identified as Vishal Ramesh Bhai Makhvana, was apprehended from his native village in Gujarat and brought to Bhubaneswar on transit remand and produced before a court in Bhubaneswar Saturday, police said, adding nearly Rs 3 lakh of the total amount was transferred to his account.
The complainant had received a phone call from a fraudster claiming to be a representative of a courier company of Mumbai, a senior police officer said.
The caller claimed that a parcel had been received at their office, booked in the complainant’s name and scheduled to be sent to Iran.
“The fraudster told the complainant that the parcel contained illegal drugs, and then connected him to another individual, who identified himself as a police officer,” Bhubaneswar DCP Jagmohan Meena said.
The caller threatened the complainant with arrest and freezing of assets, he said.
Fearing legal consequences, the victim was forced to reveal his bank account details. Upon learning that the account had a minimal balance, the fraudsters instructed the complainant to secure a loan in the same account, Meena said.
“Subsequently, the complainant was forced to avail of a loan of Rs 6.94 lakh. The victim then transferred the amount to different bank accounts of the fraudsters,” the DCP added.
Later, he approached the police and lodged a complaint, following which the arrest was made. A manhunt has been launched to nab other accused persons.
PTI
