MUMBAI: A 65-year-old retired employee of BYL Nair Hospital lost Rs 11.2 lakh to a gang of conmen who asked him to deposit the money in bank accounts to claim an insurance policy of Rs 98.5 lakh. The catch was the victim had never bought such a policy, yet he got lured and walked into the trap.
"The senior citizen, who has no means of income except his pension, was cheated between October 2017 and February 2018. The accused got in touch with the victim on his mobile phone. They told him they were calling from an insurance firm in Hyderabad and that his policy for Rs 98.55 lakh had matured," said a police officer.
"The accused asked him to deposit the money into the
SBI account of Ashok Yadav and the Bank of
Maharashtra account of Milind Ranpise," said a source.
The callers told the victim they would clear the insurance payout once he deposited Rs 11.25 lakh.
"The victim parted with his savings, and even sold his non-agricultural land, besides taking a loan of Rs 2.5 lakh from a relative. He told the relative one of his friends needed money and asked him to make a direct transfer to the account number given by the gang," the source added.
After the victim deposited the money, the fraudsters stopped taking his calls. While some mobile numbers used by them have been switched off, two numbers are still working.
Frustrated with the situation, the victim lodged an FIR with
Tardeo police on Wednesday. "The numbers were activated in
Karnataka. We are working on the case and hope to crack it soon," said an officer.
The victim's family doesn't know about the fraud yet, said an officer. Police are trying to get details of the bank account holders who received the money.
Representative image 
