Instagram 'brothers' dupe woman of Rs 2 L in UP

Lucknow, May 14 A woman was allegedly duped of Rs 2 lakh by three 'brothers' on Instagram after the latter befriended her, the police said.

In the first such case, cyber fraudsters promised the woman wedding gifts from "brothers" and trapped her in a fraudulent scheme.

The victim, Salma (name changed) of Indiranagar, told the police that on April 22, she came across three men on Instagram named Ravi Kumar, Rana Pratap Singh, and Manoj.

The men gained her trust and convinced her to consider them as her brothers.

"After days of communication, one of them Ravi Kumar contacted me via phone and assured me that they would provide expensive wedding items for me. For this, they requested my Aadhar card, photos, and other documents for shipping purposes," the victim told the police.

"Later, Manoj, one of the accused, contacted me to inform me that the shipment had been seized at the airport. He claimed that to release the package, I needed to pay a certain amount of money. Initially, I refused, but he threatened me by stating that if I did not comply, he would involve the CBI, Crime Branch, or Income Tax officers, and get me arrested," she said.

She succumbed to pressure and transferred Rs 1.94 lakh online through a QR code.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, North Zone, Abhijit Shankar, said that an FIR has been lodged, and investigations are underway.

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