Thursday, 25 May 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) arrested a Moradabad resident Monu Sagar on Wednesday on charges of cheating at least 10 people on the pretext of sending them abroad on work visas. The accused Monu allegedly used to edit his own ticket and visa on an app and subsequently sent its digital copies to the victims via Whatsapp to scam them, said the STF officials. They said that a few people approached the senior superintendent of police of STF Ayush Agrawal a few days ago and complained that the accused Monu has taken over Rs 9.24 lakhs from them in the pretext of sending them to Middle East countries for work opportunities. He had allegedly promised them to even provide jobs there. According to the victims, they came to know about the scam when they went to the International Airport in Delhi where the immigration department informed them that they possess counterfeit visas, tickets and immigration letters. They said they tried to call the accused multiple times but they could not reach him. Considering the sensitivity of the issue, the SSP handed over the case to inspector Pradeep Kumar Rana. The STF started an investigation that revealed that Monu was living in Mohali, Punjab. A team went to Mohali to search for the accused and brought him to Dehradun for questioning, as per the officials. The accused confessed to his offences during questioning and also revealed that he allegedly lost all the money he scammed from the said victims on an online game Rummy Circle. Considering this, the STF arrested him. The STF officials said that so far, names of 10 people have come to light who have been duped by the accused that include seven victims from Uttarakhand and one each from Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. They said that there might be more victims of the accused in other parts of the country too and further investigation will be done by the Dalanwala police station.
