Maharashtra: Police busts share trading scam, arrests man in Thane

The Navi Mumbai Police claimed to have busted a share trading scam with the arrest of a man from Mira Road locality in Maharashtra`s Thane district, reported the PTI.

They also seized seven mobile phones, 15 SIM cards, nine ATM cards of different banks, two cheque books, two PAN cards and four rubber stamps, senior police inspector Gajanan Kadam said, according to the PTI.

The scam came to light after a man lodged a complaint, in which he alleged that he was duped of Rs 29 lakh between January 18 and February 29 this year after being lured into investing in share trading schemes that promised high returns, he said, as per the PTI.

Acting on the complaint, Navi Mumbai`s cyber police launched an investigation that led to the arrest of 39-year-old Piyush Jawarilal Lodha from Mira Road in the early hours of March 23. During the interrogation, Lodha admitted that he was involved in the scam, he added, the news agency reported on Thursday.

In a move to mitigate the financial damage caused by the scam, the police worked closely with banks to freeze an amount of Rs 16,71,750, identified in various accounts linked to the scam, Gajanan Kadam said.

Meanwhile, in an another case earlier this month, a 37-year-old Navi Mumbai man fell prey to a cryptocurrency fraud and lost more than Rs 10 lakh. According to a PTI report, fraudsters contacted the man by phone and the Telegram app between February 9 and February 11. The scammers persuaded him to invest in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and other digital assets by promising high profits.

Believing the scammers` promises, the Navi Mumbai man transferred Rs 10.61 lakh into numerous accounts as advised.

However, despite his investment, the man did not receive the promised rewards. After several unsuccessful attempts to contact the accused, he decided to approach the police and make a complaint, the PTI report further stated.

As per the report, the Uran police filed a case of cheating against the fraudsters under the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act. The inquiry into this problem is ongoing.

A 48-year-old man from Navi Mumbai allegedly lost Rs 1.36 crore to online scammers who tricked him into investing in stock trading, as reported by news agency PTI on March 17.

A case against two individuals and an organisation called Angel One has been filed at the cyber police station under section 420 (cheating) and other pertinent laws of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act. This is in response to a complaint, an official told PTI.

(with PTI inputs)