Sion police arrests youth who cheated former Indian Idol participant, sister of 1.75 lakh
Rajkumar Mandal obtained the bank details and debit card passwords from the singer under the pretence of helping activate her new debit card
Sion police have arrested a 22-year-old from Jharkhand for cheating former Indian Idol participant Avanti Patel and her sister of Rs 1.75 lakh under the pretext of debit card verification.
The accused, Rajkumar Jaynarayan Mandal, was arrested last week by the Sion Police with the help of Cyber Cell of the Mumbai and Deoghar Police.
According to officials, Mandal had called Avanti Patel (23), who participated in the singing reality show ‘Indian Idol’ last year, and her sister on December 31.
The accused posed as an executive of a public sector bank and enquired why she had not activated her card till now. Under the pretence of helping her activate her new card, the accused obtained their bank details and debit card passwords.
He then fraudulently withdrew Rs 1.75 lakh from Patel’s and her sister’s accounts and transferred the money to other bank accounts and digital wallet, Paytm.
The incident came to light when the singer realised that she has been cheated and lodged a complaint with the Sion police.
During the investigation, the police traced the phone call to Jharkhand and also got details of the accounts in which the siphoned off money was deposited.
A police team went to Jharkhand and apprehended the accused from there. Cops also reportedly seized 15 mobiles, four passbooks and a debit card from the accused.
Police have launched a probe to trace two more individuals who are suspected to be involved in the fraud.
