House owner conned Rs 2.34 lakh in name of mobile tower installation

A house owner from West Bengaluru says he lost Rs 2.34 lakh to fraudsters who promised to install a mobile phone tower on his terrace for a monthly rent of Rs 50,000 and a security deposit of Rs 60 lakh.

N S Narasaraju, 49, of Metro Badavane, Nayandahalli, has filed a complaint with Chandra Layout police, who have taken up a case under the Information Technology Act and IPC Section 420 (cheating).

According to the complaint, it all started when Narasaraju received a phone call from an unknown number on June 18.

The caller introduced herself as Bhagya, a representative of a telco, and asked him if he was interested in renting the terrace for installing the tower. She offered him a rent of Rs 50,000 per month and Rs 60 lakh as security deposit, to be paid in two equal instalments. The first Rs 30 lakh would be paid upfront and the rest after the completion of procedures and tower installation. Narasaraju signed up.

The woman called him again on June 22 and asked him to pay Rs 1,100 as legal and paperwork fees. She gave a bank account number.

He paid up without any hesitation.

On July 14, a person who gave his name as Somashekar called Narasaraju and asked him to pay Rs 36,900 as the tower licence fee. He gave a bank account number in the name of one Sushil and asked him to transfer the money to it. Narasaraju did as told.

Somashekar called him again and sought Rs 76,000 as engineer and other fees. Narasaraju paid that, too.

The next day, a woman who gave her name as Sowmya called up Narasaraju and asked him to pay 4% GST on the security deposit of Rs 30 lakh. This worked out to Rs 1.20 lakh. An unquestioning Narasaraju wired the money.

The fraudsters didn’t stop at that and asked him for more money by citing one fee or other. Narasaraju got suspicious and asked friends for advice. He eventually realised that he was being taken for a ride.