Man held for duping people by creating fake Ministry website, wife on the run

The Delhi Police claim to have arrested a man, who along with his wife allegedly cheated people by creating a government department’s fake website and inviting bidders for tenders. 

Police said the accused, Tarun Gupta was arrested from Agra. The police have recovered Rs 8 lakh from his possession.

According to the police, on March 3, a complaint was filed by the CEO of Infotech Systems at the Saket police station, alleging that he had received an Email from the Ministry of Small Scale Industries, Govt. of India, inviting him to participate in the tender published on their website for an estimated value of Rs 100 crore.

Believing the mail to be genuine, the complainant deposited the ‘tender amount’ of Rs 9.72 lakh as Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) in different bank accounts given on the website. 

The money was sent to the address of a Skill Development Mentoring Services in Nehru Place. After receiving the EMD and tender documents, the accused kept postponing the tender opening for a month, citing that senior officials of the Ministry were busy. Suspecting something fishy, the complainant called up the Ministry and found that no such tender had opened.

“A team was constituted to arrest the culprits. During investigation, it was found that all cellphone numbers given on the website were switched off and the Nehru Palace address was virtual. The mobile numbers, account details and details of account-holders were collected. The account-holders were identified as Tina Majoomdar and Amrit Sabarwal. Later, it was found that the actual name of Sabarwal is Tarun Gupta, a resident of Agra; while Majoomdar’s actual name is Priyanka Rao, who belongs to Andhra Pradesh and is Gupta’s wife. The duo also changed their telephone numbers and residence to escape the law,” said Surender Kumar, Additional DCP (South).

“From the analysis of account details, in which the cheated money was transferred, it was revealed that Gupta had bought a Safari car from Vaishali and the payment was made online. Gupta’s location was traced to Agra. He was arrested from his rented accommodation in Agra and Rs 8 lakh was recovered from his possession,” Kumar added.

Police said Gupta had confessed his involvement in the crime. He told the police that he plotted the conspiracy to earn quick money. He revealed that he had also cheated around eight others in Hyderabad, Chennai and Banglore using the same modus operandi.

“We are trying to locate co-accused Priyanka Rao, who is on the run. We are also trying to ascertain the involvement of other people in the crime,” he added.