AHMEDABAD: No legal is aware of your wishes and weaknesses higher than your pal. This maxim was utilized by a Sabarkantha man who posed on-line as a lady and exploited his pal’s cherished want to discover matrimonial bliss. For this criminal, his pal and a catfishing rip-off have been a match made in cybercrime heaven. As a bachelor coping with a breakup, the cybercriminal deemed his single buddies to be truthful sport.Conscious that his pal had been frenetically in search of a bride for a number of years, the cybercriminal launched him to a lady named “Kinjal Patel”. The complainant, a 35-year-old bachelor from Sabarkantha, advised police that he and “Kinjal” started chatting repeatedly on WhatsApp.He mentioned the girl shared her images and finally acknowledged that her household hadapproved the alliance.
Over time, the girl sought cash on varied pretexts, together with private and household wants. Trusting her assurance that marriage was on the playing cards, the complainant transferred round Rs 5 lakh over two years to her.Nonetheless, regardless of his repeated requests, the girl prevented assembly him in individual, citing well being and different issues. Someday, because the complainant checked his transaction statements, he seen that the beneficiary’s title matched that of his pal’s father.The complainant then confronted his pal. The ostensible matchmaker allegedly confessed that he had been posing as the girl.Police mentioned the accused, recognized as Ankush Patel, is underneath monetary stress. He allegedly used the cash to repay private money owed.Throughout preliminary investigation, police discovered that at the very least 10 of his buddies had been cheated in the same method with the accused luring them with marriage proposals utilizing faux feminine profiles on social media and messaging platforms. The Sabarkantha complainant approached the cyber helpline and later filed a proper grievance with the cybercrime police of the area.The FIR acknowledged that whereas the accused returned Rs 1 lakh in instalments after being confronted, he did not repay the remaining Rs 4 lakh regardless of repeated calls for. A number of different aspiring grooms have additionally misplaced cash starting from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 4 lakh.A police officer mentioned that the attention-grabbing a part of the story is that the accused himself is a bachelor. A few years in the past, the officer mentioned, the accused began a relationship with awoman and needed to marry her.He spent giant sums to fulfil his marriage dream and purchase a home. His relationship failed and he ended up shedding cash. That disappointment apparently triggered his plan to cheat his personal buddies.A case has been registered underneath sections associated to dishonest. The IT Act has additionally been invoked. Police are inspecting digital proof, financial institution transactions, and social media accounts to determine different victims and hint the entire quantity concerned.
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