Conmen dupe people

On the pretext of installing mobile towers, two men take Rs 55 lakh from 25 people

A gang of fraudsters, who cheated people to the tune of Rs 55 lakh on the pretext of helping them to set up Airtel mobile phone towers on their plots, were arrested on Saturday.

The accused are Sujit Kumar Giri alias Anil Kumar, 31, and Krishan Kumar alias Naresh, 34.

“Both of them were arrested from their apartments in Palam and Kalkaji on charges of duping around 25 people of Rs 55 lakh. They lured people by saying they would install cellphone towers on their plots,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Chhaya Sharma.

Following a complaint with RK Puram police station on November 3 by Ratnesh Kumar Singh, the police swung into action. Singh claimed to have been duped by two persons who posed as Assistant Manager (Field and Tower) of Airtel.

“The accused told Singh that Airtel would give Rs 1 in advance and Rs 20,000 as monthly rental. Singh, who is from Bihar, was impressed with the offer and was cheated of Rs 50,000,” said the official.

Modus operandi

On December 9, both Naresh and Anil Kumar visited Singh’s village, took measurements of the plot and samples of soil, along with two cheques of
Rs 1,000 as processing fee.

They also told Singh that if soil samples are cleared, construction work on the tower would start soon.

After two days, they again visited the village and said the project has been cleared.
The duo collected a fake copy of the agreement and other documents such as election card, photographs and Rs 50,000 as their commission. Then the duo left, saying construction work would begin on December 19.

Singh waited till December 28, but nobody turned up to start work. When he tried calling the accused, their phones were switched off.

Complaint filed

Upon asking Airtel, Singh came to know that the duo were fake manager, following which he filed a complaint.

During interrogation, the duo revealed that they were working as executives with a big bank and became friends.

“The money they earned was insufficient to meet their lavish lifestyle, so they tried to dupe people,” said Sharma.

Accordingly, they bought SIM cards using fake IDs and printed fake visiting cards of Airtel. They also prepared a network chart of Airtel on the map of Bihar and Himachal Pradesh, and downloaded the same on their laptop. 

“On the pretext of installing mobile towers, they had duped around Rs 55 lakh from 25 people from different parts of the country,” said Sharma.