BENGALURU: A 29-year-old
private firm employee has alleged that he was cheated of Rs 1.1 lakh by a conman who promised to get medicine for his US-based uncle at cheaper prices.
The victim, K Yashodhara, told police he paid Rs 1.1 lakh to the conman to procure the medicine. The Whitefield resident said his uncle from the US needed
Dupixent injection for an allergic condition. As it was costly in the US, they decided to buy it from India and ship it to him.
“My uncle asked me to purchase the medicine for him. I told him that Dupixent injection is not available in India. But he provided the email ID of a person identified as Kumar. I contacted him through mail, WhatsApp and regular calls. He promised to supply the injection,” Yashodhara said.
According to police, Kumar told Yashodhara he would supply 10 Dupixent injections in five packs for Rs 85,000, following which the latter transferred the money to the bank account provided by the former.
Yashodhara received a mail from a courier firm informing his consignment is ready and advised him to purchase an insurance against the medicine at Rs 25,000 premium. They told him he would get back the entire money if the medicine got damaged or was lost in transit, and will get his premium back after 5% deduction if the consignment is delivered safely. Yashodhara paid for the insurance through an online platform, as advised by the courier firm.
Yashodhara was informed by a text message that his consignment had reached Bengaluru. But on another call, he was told he hadn’t paid the insurance premium. Yashodhara sent all the proofs of his payment to the email ID of the courier firm, which later turned incommunicado.
“When I called Kumar later, he suggested to file a case in court and offered to arrange an advocate for the same. He told me I would get up to Rs 20 lakh compensation if I paid him Rs 1 lakh advance for the advocate’s fee and another Rs 1 lakh after winning the case,” he said.
“I tried to convince him that I hadn’t purchased the medicine to win Rs 20 lakh in court; I had done it for my uncle’s treatment,” Yashodhara said. Soon, Kumar too couldn’t be contacted over phone.
Whitefield police have registered a case of cheating under IPC section 420 against Kumar and launched a probe.
(Representative image)