Man who duped Army veteran of Rs 1.40 cr held upon return to India after 2 years

A former finance consultant of a private bank was arrested Saturday from the Delhi airport by the Noida police for allegedly duping a retired Army man of Rs 1.40 crore, officials said.

The accused, Vinay Chadda (29), was held in the morning when he arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport from Dubai, they said.

A case was lodged at the Noida Sector 20 police station against Chadda in 2016 for duping retired colonel Ravindra Nath Pandit (82) offering a bogus life insurance policy, police said.

Chaddha, a resident of Delhi, had opened 23 fake insurance policies of Pandit, and between 2009 and 2016 defrauded him of Rs 1.40 crore, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ajay Pal Sharma said.

The company where he worked had terminated his services over complaints of cheating but he continued to pretend to the army veteran that he was still working with the firm, the officer said.

"A case was registered against Chaddha at the Sector 20 police station in 2016 for a fraud worth Rs 1.40 crore. A lookout notice was issued against him. When a non-bailable warrant was issued against him then, he did not appear in court but fled to Dubai. He was tracked and held from the IGI airport upon arrival from Dubai," Sharma said.

A sealed bag along with 4,675 Dinar and Rs 2,570 were seized from his possession upon arrival at the airport, the police said.

He has been booked under Indian Penal Code section 420 (fraud), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), among others,the police said.