By IANS,
New Delhi: Delhi Police Saturday said they had busted a gang of cheats who used to dupe the families of missing or kidnapped children by giving them false information about them. Two people were arrested.
Pankaj Singh and Vinod Pal were arrested Friday following a complaint from Janardan Singh.
“Singh, whose seven-year-old nephew Rahul was missing, got Rahul’s details published in a Hindi newspaper with his contact number and also lodged a missing complaint. Singh then received a call from a man identifying himself as Amit Kumar Sharma who told him that he has seen Rahul and would bring him home,” a police officer said.
According to the police official, Sharma told Singh that he was poor and needed money for transport. On his request, Singh deposited Rs. 3,000 in his account for transportation and other expenses. However, he later called again and sought some more money and Singh deposited another Rs.3,000 in the account.
Singh complained to the police as Sharma then vanished, keeping his mobile phone switched off.
The caller’s identity was established and Pankaj Singh was arrested. On interrogation, he disclosed that he called Singh in the name of Amit Kumar Sharma. His associate Vinod Pal was also arrested and the mobile phone used was recovered from his possession, the police added.
The police also recovered a fake identity card in Sharma’s name bearing Pankaj Singh’s photo and an ATM card of the bank account in which money was deposited by Singh.
The duo had also cheated three people this way in Dehradun and in Burari and Maurya Enclave areas of Delhi.
Pankaj is the son of a security guard whereas Vinod Pal is son of a grocery shop owner. Both of them were presently unemployed after studying till class 12, the police said.