Gujarat man duped of Rs 1.7 crore by two Nawada youths

NAWADA: A Gujarati resident Hiren Bhai Patel was duped by two Bihari youths of Warisaliganj in Nawada district on the pretext of helping him to get a petrol pump allocated in Guajart. The duo were arrested by the police on Saturday from a rented accommodation and Rs 54.43 lakh cash, several ATM cards and a laptop were recovered from their possession.
The two Nawada youths—Gopal (22) and Bipul (28), had demanded Rs 1.7 crore as expenses from Hiren which he paid online to the duo in instalments only to realize that he has become a victim of fraud.
Hiren had lodged a complaint with the Morbi police station in Gujarat a few weeks ago. The Warisaliganj police assisted the Gujarat police team, which had arrived here a few days earlier to nab the two culprits. While Gopal is a native of Sakra village under Hisua police station, Bipul is a native of Mahbatpur village under Sheikhopur Sarai police station in Sheikhpura district.
According to police sources, the youths are part of a large network of cyber thugs spread in several villages in and around Warisaliganj police station. The lucrative cyber crime has also spread its tentacles in several villages in neighbouring Nalanda district. Hundreds of people are reported to have been duped by these thugs in recent years.
‘Chhehra pahchano, inaam pao’, is one such pet trap where people are asked to recognize the slightly blurred, but recognizable, photographs of famous Bollywood stars duly advertised in vernacular newspapers and magazines. The ‘winners’ are promised huge rewards. Below the photographs of the movie stars are displayed the mobile numbers on which the winner can contact to collect the ‘cash awards’. The jubilant ‘winners’ are then directed to furnish the bank account numbers on which the ‘cash’ is to be deposited. Many fall into the trap and part with their account numbers only to painfully realize later that a large sum of money have been withdrawn from their bank accounts instead of getting deposited.
After the arrest of several such fraudsters in recent months, the gang widened its trap and also developed new techniques such as promising bank jobs, petrol pumps, gas agencies, mobile towers etc. Given the enormity of such ongoing incidents of fraud, the Nawada police have established two units of cyber crime cells in the district just to tackle the menace.
SDPO Sri Prakash Singh said a probe is on to unearth more such cases of fraud committed by the two and their associates.