Fake NRIs cook up sob story, dupe five in week

CHANDIGARH: A gang of fashionably dressed tricksters introducing themselves as NRIs and moving around in an SUV is employing the sympathy card to fool people into handing them cash, striking five times in a week in the city and Mohali.

Brimming with confidence, the gang of four walk into the house of their targets, strike friendships, narrate their sob story, demand money and flee before the person even realises he has been duped. Prem Singh, a resident of Sector 27, was one of their first victims on the night of November 9. Singh, a caterer, said three persons and a child in a Toyota Innova reached his house. Two of them came inside, while the child and the other person remained sitting in the SUV. The two told Prem Singh’s 87-year-old father that they had returned from Canada and were their old customers. “They started inquiring about caterers and said they wanted to book one to celebrate the birth of their grandson. In the meantime, one of them received a call on his phone. He hung up after a few seconds. Almost on the verge of tears, he said his relative has met with an accident and asked for Rs 10,000. He promised his mother will be coming to the house to return the money in a few minutes,” Prem Singh said. When no one showed up, Prem Singh realised they had been cheated.

“Cops from Sector 26 police station came to the house, but hushed up the matter saying the cheating amount is meagre,” Prem Singh alleged.

On November 10, the accused landed up at the house of Raminder Singh, a resident of Sector 20. Raminder, a doctor, said the accused knew his son was in the business of giving banquet halls on rent for functions. He said they wanted to book a banquet hall for the function of their grandson. Before he could answer, the second man received a phone call. The same story of a relative meeting with an accident played out. The accused took Rs 10,000 from Raminder and fled.

A few days later, the accused reached the office of S K Real Estate in Phase VII, Mohali. They befriended a woman employee of Satnam, making her believe that they were close to her boss. Satnam said he had given Rs 50,000 to her for office work. The accused managed to make the woman hand that money to them after narrating the relative-killedin accident tale. Satnam Singh said only a DDR (daily diary report) was registered.

Arvinder Singh, a resident and a property dealer in Phase IX, was the next victim. He said accused came to his office and took Rs 15,000 from him. Another resident of Mohali had also reported that the gang duped him of Rs 10,000 near his house.