Court clerk duped of Rs 1 lakh while trying to courier daughter's blood sample to lab

New Delhi: A court clerk here was duped of over Rs 1 lakh while trying to courier his daughter's blood sample to a laboratory in Mumbai. His daughter is being treated for tuberculosis at the National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases and needed to have her blood tested in Mumbai.

The father, in a rut over getting the sample delivered within 24 hours, frantically tried to expedite the delivery, but in the process was cheated of his money. Delhi Police said they had registered a case but no arrest had been made so far.

"For testing her drug level, I had sent her sample through courier to hospital in Mumbai," the complainant told police, adding that as per the hospital, the blood sample should reach the destination in 24 hours.

After sending the courier, the complainant tried tracking the courier but was unable to do so. He then looked up a courier service in Mumbai on the Internet and called them to get the sample to the lab in time. "I was worried that the blood sample might get destroyed," the complainant said.

However, the complainant got a call, asking him details of his package, adding that an "urgent request" should be made for the delivery. "I told him to make a request and then the caller told me to share an OTP which had come on the mobile number I gave him the OTP. Later, Rs 2 was deducted from my account," the complainant said.

The victim thought that something was fishy so he went to the bank and informed the officials about the fraud. "The bank official told me that I am lucky that I reached the bank at the right time and saved myself from fraud. After getting assurance from the bank, I returned to my office," the complainant said.

Despite this, the complainant later discovered that Rs 1 lakh had been debited from his account in separate tranches ranging from Rs 49,999 to Rs 10,000. The complainant once again reported the fraud to bank officials before going to the police.