Even poor farmers seem to be on the radar of fraudsters. Less than 24 hours after he deceived a farmer from a remote village in Ahmednagar, the 25-year-old cheat landed into the custody of the Tulinj police in Nallasopara on Monday. According to the police, the accused who has been identified as-Prakash Umesh Choudhary (25) placed an order of pomegranates with Amol Dagdu Pahe- a farmer who cultivates fruits at his farmland in Hangewadi village of Shrigonda taluka in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra.
After negotiations with Choudhary on phone, Pahe agreed to deliver 112 boxes of pomegranates worth Rs. 87,800. Unaware about the buyer’s fraudulent intentions, Pahe dispatched the consignment of fruits with a promise of being paid cash-on-delivery. However, the accused offloaded the boxes into another tempo and under the pretext of arranging cash vanished from the spot.
Following a complaint registered by the farmer, an investigating team led by Senior Police Inspector- Rajendra Kamble under the supervision of ACP- Amol Mandve, swung into action and zeroed in on the accused on the virtue of technical surveillance of call data records. The police also recovered the entire consignment of 112 boxes from the tempo which the accused had hid in the parking lot outside the railway station in Vasai (east).
Not ruling out the involvement of the accused in similar crimes, the police have registered a case against him under section 420 of the IPC. Further investigations were underway.
