The cyber cells of the Navi Mumbai and Nhava Sheva police are looking for a gang including women for cheating an official of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust of ₹41.87 lakh in the name of ‘sexual dating’.
The 52-year-old complainant had in February received a call from a woman named Preeti asking him that if he became a member of Mariana Web Solutions by paying ₹10,200, he would get enrolled in friendship and nature clubs, other than being eligible for ‘sexual dating’ with interested women in his area.
Days later, another woman named Kirti, who introduced herself as the profile manager of the firm, offered him a Mariana web dating card for dating women and getting paid for it by them.
The complainant paid ₹10,200 following which Preeti gave him the mobile number of a woman named Shreya Sharma. The complainant and Ms. Sharma indulged in vulgar chats on WhatsApp and exchanged obscene photos. Ms. Sharma made him believe that she was eager to meet him after which Kirti asked the complainant to pay ₹23,600 to date her. Ms. Sharma requested him to pay her fees as well on the promise of returning it, following which the complainant paid ₹47,200.
On February 24, the duo was supposed to meet, but Ms. Sharma cancelled it citing that her mother had died. For the second date, the complainant paid ₹1.44 lakh, but the meeting was again cancelled after Ms. Sharma said she had fractured her hand.
The complainant then asked Kirti to cancel his membership and refund his money to which Kirti said he would have to pay ₹2.93 lakh towards cancellation charges. After that payment, the complainant was asked to pay another ₹7.47 lakh to block his profile. Later, Kirti started blackmailing the complainant that she would make his chats with Ms. Sharma viral and kept on extorting money till April.
“After realising that he was being cheated, he gave an application to the Navi Mumbai cyber cell which forwarded it to us, and a case was registered last week. The bank accounts where the money was transferred were in West Bengal. Investigations are on,” an officer from Nhava Sheva police station said.
