A 92-year-old man was cheated of ₹80,000 by a gang which allegedly duped people by assuring high returns on lapsed insurance policies, the police said on Wednesday.
Two, including a woman, have been arrested, they said.
Two on the run
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-East) Chinmoy Biswal said that the accused have been identified as Pooja alias Sona (25) and Vishal Aggarwal (42). Two others — Sumit Rana and Bilal — are absconding, the officer said.
Ram Prakash Kapur, resident of East of Kailash, approached the police on July 10 stating that he had been cheated of ₹80,000 by two persons pretending to be bank employees.
“The woman called me and said she was the branch manager. She said my policy of about ₹11 lakh had lapsed but it can be revived by paying ₹80,000. She also said that I will get ₹14 lakh after the policy matures,” Mr. Kapur said.
He then told the woman that he did not remember any such policy but she said it was in the bank records.
Following this, as directed, the complainant sent the required documents via WhatsApp and deposited the amount in a bank account. The account details were provided by the accused, the police said. Mr. Kapur became suspicious when Pooja and Sumit Rana on July 6 asked him to pay ₹2.4 lakh to get ₹14 lakh. Following this, the victim decided to approach the police.
During investigation, details of the account in which the payment was made were sought from a bank in Ghaziabad. When the team visited the address in Bhopura, they failed to find the accused there.
“The team then got Vishal’s photograph, which was submitted to the bank while opening the account. The photo was then shown in the same area and a street vendor identified him. With the help of local intelligence, Vishal was arrested on July 13,” Mr. Biswal said.
Interrogation
During interrogation, he allegedly confessed his involvement and revealed the names of his associates — Pooja, Sumit and Bilal. Pooja was arrested from Noida, the police said.
Sumit and Bilal used to share data of senior citizens with lapsed insurance policies with Vishal, who further shared them with Pooja, the police said. The woman, who earlier worked in a call centre, then made calls to the victims.
“Teams are working to nab the other two absconding accused,” Mr. Biswal said.
