Kanpur: A couple was arrested from Gautam Budh Nagar for duping a city-based leather businessman of Rs 41 lakh in Chakeri. They were sent to jail on Thursday.
The police on Thursday said that the accused couple, Pawan Kumar (28) from Ballia and his wife Renu (28) from Mau took Rs 41 lakh from Mohammad Ismail a resident of Lal Bangla, Chakeri in the name of policy renewal. The arrested couple works at a private bank.
A case was registered at the cyber cell police station. The team has recovered jewellery worth Rs 5,35,000 and cash amounting to 1,06,000 from the fraudsters. The police have also froze their bank accounts having Rs 11.34 lakh. According to report, Mohammad Ismail (75), a leather businessman stated that insurance policies for ten family members were taken from different companies. Due to the business shutdown during Covid-19 pandemic, he was unable to pay the insurance premiums. On October 8, he received a call from a man claiming to be Vipin Anand, a manager from the insurance company. He said that by paying a small amount, Ismail could receive a substantial refund value.
Subsequently, one Chandan Reddy called the trader for paperwork. Between October 17 and 22, Ismail deposited Rs 10.90 lakh for refund-related charges like STGC, NOC charges, fund charges, and processing fees for which he also got receipts via WhatsApp. On October 28, he received a letter from the department of Internal Audit on WhatsApp stating that the refund amount was Rs 1.06 crore for which he needed to deposit Rs 30.14 lakh. Ismail deposited Rs 30.14 lakh into various accounts between October 29 and November 8. Ismail said that when he showed the letter to his CA on October 28, he said that it was fake.
DCP crime Asish Srivastava said that the arrested couple revealed during interrogation that they used to extract data of policyholders with lapsed insurance policies from Just Dial website and called them. "They have been arrested from Gautam Budh Nagar. They would then entice people by offering to renew their lapsed insurance policies and promising other benefits," said the DCP.
The police said that they also recovered four phones, two keypad phones, two iPhones, 12 fake stamps, two fake ID cards, one ATM card, one swipe machine, and a car. "The accused couple has been booked under sections including 318 (4), 336 (3), 338, and 340 (2) of BNS and 66 C and 66 D of IT Act and were sent to jail," said the police.