Aurangabad, Sept 1:
A retired rector was cheated to the tune of Rs 19.14 lakh by a man disguising as a female friend on Facebook and luring in different ways.
The accused-Vijay Tuljaram Mungse (30, Mastgad), Syed Ansar Syed Akhtar (37, Shis Tekadi, Morandi Mohalla) and Santosh Vishnu Shinde (21, Hanuman Tekadi Mastgad) were arrested from Jalna within 24 hours of after the registration of a case with Cyber police. The first accused is a grocery shop owner, another is an auto-rickshaw driver while the third accused is a student.
According to details, an account of FB was opened as Sneha Jadhav.
Retired reactor from Social Welfare Department Malal Gangaram Choudhary (68, Waladgaon, Aurangabad) got acquainted with Sneha Jadhav on social media in 2019. Later, they became a friend and starting chatting on Whatsapp.
In April 2019, Sneha sought Rs 4,000 from Choudhary, citing the reason for her daughter’s illness and transferring the amount to a bank account number of Syed Ansar. Choudhary sent money to the given bank account number.
Jadhav returned the money to Choudhary in January 2020 to win the trust of the latter.
Jadhav again demanded money by telling giving different reasons, including the transfer of a property (complex) to her and her son-in-law. A total of 8.36 lakh were transferred to the bank account of Ansar and Rs 9.28 lakh to the account of another accused, Santosh Shinde.
Sneha sent a person to Baba Petrol Pump Chowk on July 23, 2020, and returned Rs 1.50 lakh (Rs 60,000 cash and one cheque of Rs 90,000) to the retired rector.
The accused informed the complainant through a mobile text message that she wishes to return the money, but she currently needs Rs 3 lakh again.
The retired Government employee informed Jadhav that he had no money. The accused threatened the complainant of killing his son and son-in-law in Pune with a gun.
Realising that he was cheated, Choudhary lodged a complaint with Cyber Police.
A police team comprising Police inspector Gautam Patare, PSI Rahul Chavan, constable Dhudku Khare, Sushat Shelke, Gokul Kutarwade, Mansoor Shah, Vijay Ghuge, Amol Sontakke and Chhaya Landge probed the case technically and arrested the three accused in just 24 hours of case registration.
During the probe, it was revealed that the accused created a fake account using a female name as Sneha Jadhav.
Assistant Government pleader Amer Qazi requested the court to grant police custody to collect further information in the case.
Chief Judicial magistrate P P Muley granted police custody to the accused up to September 4.