Pune: Conman steals cab owner’s phone, uses it to transfer Rs 3 lakh

PUNE: A conman (27) stole the cellphone of a 28-year-old cab owner on the pretext of connecting his laptop to its hotspot and siphoned off Rs 3.05 lakh from the latter’s bank account and through his credit card in August last year.
The suspect, Hrishikesh Bomble, foxed the cab owner, Samir Divekar of Navi Mumbai, when he had come to the city in the latter’s car for some work.Divekar had first lodged an FIR with the New Mumbai police. The case was later transferred to the Nigdi police.
Bomble was arrested from Nashik in October last year in connection with transferring Rs1.53 lakh from the bank account of a software engineer after stealing his cellphone, worth Rs84,000. Police said the same man duped Divekar. “Bomble is lodged in the Yerawada prison,” said assistant inspector Gajanan Jadhav of the Chandannagar police.
Divekar, the duped car owner, said Bomble had first hired his car in July last year. “He hired my cab thrice and we got acquainted. When I took him to his native place in Khed in August last year, he borrowed Rs2,100 from me, which I transferred online,” Divekar said.
On August 5 last year, Bomble again hired Divekar’s cab for work at different places in Pune. “After reaching the city, he took me to a hospital for some work related to medical insurance and then he went to the PF office. He came out of the office after 15 minutes and requested me to give my cellphone because he wanted to connect his laptop to its hotspot,” Divekar said.
Divekar waited for Bomble outside the PF office till 10pm. “I went to the nearby ATM kiosk because I had run out of money but did not get cash there. After I returned home and checked with the bank, I found my debit card was blocked. Also, Rs2.75 lakh was transferred from my bank account to one Sunil Bomble’s account through net banking and Rs30,000 was transferred from my credit card to his e-wallet account,” Divekar said.
He said Bomble accessed his bank account and credit card through the stolen smartphone.