Delhi: Man held for cheating budding artistes over ratings on singing app

NEW DELHI: A 59-year-old man has been arrested for duping budding artistes on the pretext of increasing their ratings on a mobile application for singing.
The accused cheated people of Rs 50 lakh in different cities. The app, Star Maker, lets budding singers live stream their broadcast. Gifts from users can be redeemed for money.
On September 7, the accused, Mahavir Prasad Sharma, duped a 50-year-old of Rs 21 lakh, police said.A case was registered at Shalimar Bagh police station. Two other cases were reported in Rishikesh and Firozpur where people were cheated of Rs 24 lakh and Rs 8.5 lakh respectively.
“The team worked relentlessly on the case and got details of the account in which the cheated amount was transferred, It was noticed that the amount was first transferred to an account of a private bank and to different accounts later. So, it became difficult to identify the exact culprit,” said Usha Rangnani, DCP, North West.
She added, “Persistent interrogation and efforts by the team led to identification of accused. Immediately, a raiding team was formed and sent to Shillong, Meghalaya. Based on technical surveillance and with the help of local police, raids were conducted at several locations in Shillong. The cyber team of North West was able to apprehend the accused, who was in hiding”.
Sharma is a well-educated person who works as senior manager in a cement company in Shillong. His wife and two sons are well-settled in Kolkata. He started cheating people on the app for easy money. “In the beginning, he gave users some gifts for live streaming on the app and became their friend. He then exchanged numbers with them. Later, after getting money from the singers for increasing their profile ratings, he switched off his phone,” said Rangnani.