A resident of Visalakshi Nagar in the city lost ₹64 lakh by joining a WhatsApp group (group name is Stock Exchange) at the request of an unknown source, the city police said on Monday. For the first few days, he was taught about stocks and high returns with low investments, to lure him towards their trap. Believing their online classes and words, the victim deposited around ₹64 lakh on various occasions to the referred digital platforms and bank accounts, with the desire to earn huge money through stocks. After realising that he had been cheated, he lodged a complaint with the city police, who have so far arrested five accused, including one from Visakhapatnam, three from Telangana and one from Odisha.
The accused have been identified as Yadla Nageswara Rao, Muslim Tatichetlapalem (Visakhapatnam), Thallabattula Satish Kumar (Uppal X Road, Hyderabad), Sarath Chandra Behara of Odisha, Anguru Manohar (Hyderabad) and Chivukula Venkata Anil of Nizampet (Hyderabad).
The police appealed to the public to beware of the social media platforms, not to open the links shared by unknown sources.
