Mumbai, The Mumbai police have apprehended 5 members of a gang for allegedly dishonest devotees on-line by promising them “helicopter rides” throughout their go to to Prayagraj for Kumbh Mela, an official stated on Wednesday.
Mumbai police nab 5 for duping devotees over ‘helicopter ride’ throughout Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj
4 males from Bihar and a lady from Mumbai’s Andheri are amongst these nabbed. The gang ran a pretend web site providing helicopter rides at Kumbh Mela, the official stated.
The motion got here after a lady just lately approached the Cuffe Parade police station in south Mumbai with a grievance.
The lady stated she and her household had deliberate a visit to Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh for a holy dip in the course of the ongoing Kumbh Mela and have been eager to see the mega congregation from the sky.
The complainant stated she searched on Google for helicopter rides at Maha Kumbh and one of many outputs took her to an internet site. When she referred to as the given quantity, the person on the opposite facet supplied her a reduction and requested her to deposit ₹60,652 for 26 individuals. He additionally shared a QR code to facilitate the cost, the official stated citing the grievance.
Nonetheless, the lady grew suspicious when she came upon that the cash reached the checking account of a lady named Sonamuni Devi as an alternative of the helicopter service firm.
When she tried to search for the web site of the corporate the following day, she was not profitable. The lady then requested the person, whom she had spoken earlier, about her cash, however his solutions have been evasive. She then approached the police.
Across the identical time, police additionally acquired the same grievance from a Colaba resident, the official stated.
Investigation confirmed that the lady’s cash was withdrawn from an ATM in Bihar. Engaged on this enter, the Cuffe Parade police visited Bihar and apprehended one Avinash Kumar alias Bittu from Bihar Sharif, the official stated.
Bittu instructed the police that he had created the pretend web site providing helicopter rides and withdrew cash by an ATM as instructed by the prime accused Mukesh Kumar. He additionally stated Mukesh Kumar and Saurabh Kumar made calls to folks about helicopter rides.
Police started monitoring Mukesh and Saurabh and learnt that each have been travelling on the Danapur-Secunderabad Categorical in the direction of Secunderabad. With the assistance of the Authorities Railway Police, they apprehended the 2 when the practice reached Nagpur station, the official stated.