Pune: Computer engineer duped of Rs 11 lakh, accused booked in a case of fraud

Mrunal Jadhav

Hinjewadi, December 20, 2020: A computer engineer was duped of Rs 11 lakh and was threatened with income tax inquiry. The accused used the engineer’s mobile phone and name to commit this crime.

Varun Sanjay Kumar Tiwari (24) has lodged a complaint with Hinjewadi police and a case of fraud has been registered against Swarup Manjunath Shetty.

According to the police, both the complainant and the accused knew each other. The complainant is a computer engineer in a reputed company in Hinjewadi. The accused Swarup had demanded Rs 10 lakh from Varun for a flat and he had refused to give Swarup money. The accused then told Varun that he had sent Rs 10 lakh to his bank account and asked to give it in cash. Swarup showed Varun a message from SBI Manipal Bank that he had paid Rs 10 lakh through RTGS. However, the money was not deposited in the complainant’s bank account. The accused then showed that the loan amount of Rs 10 lakh had been deposited in the name of the complainant on the online Citi bank portal. He said the portal belonged to the Citi bank Manager.

Varun received a mail stating, “We have found the transaction of Rs 10,000,00 on your pan liked account, kindly justify the source of transaction and source account.” He received three such messages which mentioned tax payments. The complainant told the accused that he had transferred the money, so he should be responsible for paying taxes. Instead, the accused threatened the complainant that action would be taken against him if he did not pay the tax. However, Swarup took a loan of Rs 4 lakh using the complainant’s name and mobile phone from various places and apps.

The accused had used his credit card to withdraw money. Accused told the complainant that he had paid Rs 11 lakh tax and he will receive the receipt soon. However, the next day, the accused was arrested by the Hinjewadi Police. After that, the complainant came to know that he had been cheated. A case has been registered at Hinjewadi police station. The incident is being further investigated by Assistant Inspector of Police Shashikant Dendge.