Gang which duped senior citizens busted, seven arrested

With the arrest of seven persons, including a woman, Delhi Police today claimed to have busted a gang which allegedly duped people - especially senior citizens - over lucrative bonus and high return on investments, largely based on matured life insurance policies.
The accused have been identified as Pooja Sharma (30), Arun Dan (23), Abdul Razzaq (24), Amit Kumar (27), Rahul Kumar (25), Hari Om (27) and Girish Chandra Upadhyay (24), said DCP (South) Prem Nath.
According to the police, the racket came to light when a woman, who is in her early 60s, approached the police on September 3 and narrated her experience. She told the police that in 2009, she had received a call about Rs 6 lakh bonus on her matured life insurance policy and she would have to pay Rs 30,000 to avail that.

The caller added that the bonus was only applicable for senior citizens in view of the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
After she paid the amount, she was told that the bonus could be increased to Rs 8 lakh if she paid another instalment of Rs 30,000 through a cheque. With time, the bonus amount went on increasing until the complainant ended up paying the cheats around Rs 6.20 lakh in total through cheques. However, she did not receive any money.
On reading about a similar case published recently in the newspaper, she approached the police.

A case under Sections 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) were registered immediately and investigation was taken up, said Prem Nath.

During investigation, it emerged that the crooks had divided themselves into two groups -- while one was located in Noida, where they had set up a call centre, the other was at Jaipur, where they collected payments.
This also confused investigators who were tracking phones to Noida but had to follow up the cheques in Jaipur.
The police then asked the complainant to mail a cheque through speed-post and they took the local postman in confidence. When two of the accused - Pooja Sharma and Arun Dan - received the mail, they were nabbed by the cops.
They spilled the beans on being questioned and soon the other accused were also arrested, said a police official. During interrogation, it emerged that both the offices were headed by two different persons independently, in tandem with each other.

The gang used to change its offices in every three to four months and had been cheating the people since 2011, said the officer.
Further investigation is underway, the officer added.