Delhi: 2 arrested for duping man of Rs 1.46 lakh in online investment fraud

Investment fraud: Two people were arrested for allegedly duping a 25-year-old man of Rs 1.46 lakh on the pretext of offering high returns through online investment tasks, police said on Saturday.

According to the police, the accused were apprehended following a multi-state operation spanning Delhi and Ludhiana after a detailed technical investigation into the fraud.

The victim, Pankaj Dwivedi, had lodged a complaint stating that he was approached via social media for a part-time job involving online hotel ratings and reviews. Initially, he was given small tasks and paid nominal amounts, which helped gain his trust, a police officer said.

Subsequently, he was persuaded to invest larger sums in so-called “prepaid tasks” with assurances of higher returns. After multiple transactions, he was asked to deposit additional money on the pretext of errors and account freezing during the withdrawal process. Realising he had been cheated, Dwivedi reported the matter.

The police said technical analysis of IP logs, call detail records and financial transactions led investigators to suspect accounts and mobile numbers. Surveillance helped trace one of the accused, Puneet Sharma (43), in Ludhiana, who was arrested on April 2.

Based on his interrogation, co-accused Manish (29) was identified. He was later tracked to Delhi and arrested from the Kingsway Camp area on April 4. He frequently changed locations to evade arrest, the police said.

During questioning, police found that Sharma had provided multiple bank accounts to Manish, who further supplied them to others involved in the fraud network for monetary gain. Further investigation into the matter is underway, the officer said.

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