Pak syndicate busted, eight held for cheating
22 Oct 2014 4:52 AM IST
A Pakistan-based syndicate, which had allegedly been duping people pretending to be callers from popular television show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’, was busted by the Delhi Police on Monday with the arrest of eight of its Indian associates, police said.
Police also added that there is high probability that the money – which was siphoned off to Pakistan through Saudi Arabia, instead of being channeled directly – could be used by the syndicate in financing anti-India activities.
As narrated by a senior police official, members of the syndicate used to target Indian citizens. They used to call them up, pretending to be from ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’, and tell them that they had won a lottery bearing a prize money between Rs 20 and 30 lakhs. Upon showing interest, the accused would direct them to another Pakistani number.
Soon, the victims were called up again and asked to deposit a certain percentage of the prize money to claim the entire amount in some bank account. Once this was done, the amount was immediately withdrawn by an Indian associate of this syndicate, the account was closed and the account-holders would just vanish.
Based on a complaint by a resident of Delhi, who fell prey to the syndicate, police started investigating the case on 7 October. Soon raids were conducted in Delhi, after getting some tip-offs, and police got hold of three – Umer Ali (36), Rakesh Raut (30) and Ahmed Hussain (23) – who lived in Delhi and acted as Indian associates for the syndicate, said a senior police official.
Police also added that there is high probability that the money – which was siphoned off to Pakistan through Saudi Arabia, instead of being channeled directly – could be used by the syndicate in financing anti-India activities.
As narrated by a senior police official, members of the syndicate used to target Indian citizens. They used to call them up, pretending to be from ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’, and tell them that they had won a lottery bearing a prize money between Rs 20 and 30 lakhs. Upon showing interest, the accused would direct them to another Pakistani number.
Soon, the victims were called up again and asked to deposit a certain percentage of the prize money to claim the entire amount in some bank account. Once this was done, the amount was immediately withdrawn by an Indian associate of this syndicate, the account was closed and the account-holders would just vanish.
Based on a complaint by a resident of Delhi, who fell prey to the syndicate, police started investigating the case on 7 October. Soon raids were conducted in Delhi, after getting some tip-offs, and police got hold of three – Umer Ali (36), Rakesh Raut (30) and Ahmed Hussain (23) – who lived in Delhi and acted as Indian associates for the syndicate, said a senior police official.
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