Fraudsters promised Rs 10 crore donation, duped of Rs 70 lakh: Two arrested in Kangra

Kangra, September 14: The Kangra police have arrested two accused involved in a Rs 70 lakh fraud case where they duped an education trust by promising a fake Rs 10 crore donation. The financial advisor of the Hamirpur-based trust, who was being duped for several months, filed a complaint, following which the accused were arrested.

According to DSP Kangra Ankit Sharma, the scam started on July 4, when Amritpal, a resident of Nawabgarh in Uttar Pradesh, approached the financial advisor of the education trust. He falsely claimed that he was associated with companies that offer large donations to trusts and assured the advisor that he could get a donation of Rs 10 crore for them. However, Amritpal demanded Rs 15 lakh as registration fee to process the transaction.

Initially convinced by the conman’s elaborate claims and fake documents showing donations made to other trusts, the consultant transferred Rs 15 lakh. Over the next few months, the scam grew, with Amritpal asking for additional payments on the pretext of completing formalities, resulting in a total of Rs 70 lakh being transferred to the fraudster’s account.

When the promised donation never materialised, the financial consultant grew suspicious. The situation worsened on Saturday when two more persons, Akash Kumar from Meerut and Deepak Sen from Delhi, turned up, claiming that Rs 10 crore had been sanctioned but an additional Rs 1 crore was needed to finalise the donation. Sensing further fraud, the consultant reported the matter to the Kangra police.

The police arrested both the suspects and seized their vehicle, which contained rods and sticks. Both the accused were booked under sections 318(4) and 61(2) of the Indian Penal Code and produced in court, which remanded them to five-day police custody. DSP Ankit Sharma said the police are actively investigating the matter to find out if the fraudsters have committed similar scams elsewhere.