 "online scam, online fraud")
A bizarre incident took place in Maharashtra, where a businessman lost Rs 58 crore in online gambling. The businessman filed a police complaint after losing the amount.
The police initiated an investigation that led them to the suspected bookie and recovered Rs 14 crore cash along with four kg of gold biscuits on Saturday, said a top police officer.
The accused was identified as Anant alias Sontu Navratan Jain, who convinced the businessman to explore online gambling as a lucrative avenue for earning profit.
The police raided Jain's residence in Gondia City, which is located 160 km away from Nagpur. According to the police, he might have escaped to Dubai.
The Nagpur Commissioner of Police, Amitesh Kumar, said that the accused convinced the businessman to explore online gaming. The businessman wasn’t willing but was eventually lured by Jain's persuasion and transferred Rs 8 lakh through the hawala merchant.
Jain shared a link on WhatsApp with the victim to open an online gambling account, where the latter found that Rs 8 lakh had been deposited into his account and he began gambling, added Kumar.
Initially, the businessman earned a massive amount of Rs 5 crore, but after that, lost a whopping Rs 58 crore, said the police commissioner.
The businessman filed a complaint with the cyber police, which led to the registration of a case of fraud under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Police raided Jain's residence and seized substantial evidence with Rs 14 crore cash and 4 kg gold biscuits.
The officials are still counting a large amount of cash, and the final figure for seizure is yet to arrive.
Not the first fraud in Nagpur
Another online fraud case was reported to the police on Friday, where a Nagpur resident lost Rs 9.66 lakh. The incident took place on July 19, when a 56-year-old, Satish Dixit, received a call from an individual claiming to be a private bank employee, who claimed to offer safeguards to account holders from cyber fraud.
In the recent period, the cases of cyber fraud have increased massively with the rise in UPI payments and online gaming. People are being advised not to share their bank details with anyone and regularly update their passwords to stay safe.
