Over 150 duped on pretext of Pradhan Mantri Mudra loan

Story by  IANS | Posted by  shaista fatima • 1 Years ago
A representational image
A representational image

 

New Delhi

With the arrest of 7 persons including five women, the Delhi Police has busted a fake call centre that used to cheat people on the pretext of providing "Pradhan Mantri Mudra loan at lower interest rates", an official said on Tuesday.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Sandeep Kumar (29), Sumit (32), Rakhi (22), Jyoti (24), Manisha (20), Kajal (20) and Jyoti (22). They mainly targeted poor people in the name of the government. loan offer and cheated more than 150 innocent people in the last one year. DCP (northwest) Usha Rangnani said a complaint was lodged by a man at Cyber North West police station who alleged that he received a message from one unknown mobile number that he can get Pradhan Mantri Mudra Loan of Rs 2 lakh, and was asked to submit documents through WhatsApp along with a registration fees of Rs 2,499.

When the complainant transferred the requisite amount, the accused induced the complainant to transfer Rs 15,500 in the name of insurance. Eventually, the complainant realised that he had been duped and subsequently, went to the police. Accordingly, on the basis of said complaint and preliminary enquiry, the police registered an FIR under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and began probing the matter. During investigation, an enquiry was conducted into the matter and details from the concerned beneficiary bank were obtained and thoroughly scrutinised.

"Sources were deployed to gather local intelligence. Recce of several locations were conducted to get the clue about the accused persons," DCP Rangnani said. Further, on the basis of inputs and collected detailed information, a police team conducted a raid in Sector-17, Rohini area where the fake call centre was found operating.

All the seven accused persons were apprehended from there. Investigation of the case revealed that the main accused Sandeep Kumar had been working in a call centre as a tele-caller for 2 years, where he got the experience and decided to start his own call centre. He hired five females as tele-callers on a salary of Rs 9,000 and one of his relatives namely, Sumit on a salary of Rs 30,000.

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The prime accused took a property on a rent of Rs 19,000 in Sector-17, Rohini area and started the call centre. According to the police, the accused used to send bulk messages on random numbers with lucrative offers in the name of 'Pradhan Mantri Mudra Loan'.