Hyderabad businessman loses Rs 75 lakh in impersonation fraud

A Hyderabad businessman was allegedly cheated of Rs 75 lakh after cyber fraudsters impersonated an acquaintance and arranged for cash to be sent to Ahmedabad. Police arrested Bharat Goswami after examining CCTV footage and are probing his alleged role.

Hyderabad: A businessman from the city was allegedly cheated to the tune of Rs 75 lakh after cyber fraudsters impersonated a person known to him and arranged for the cash to be collected in Ahmedabad.

According to police, the complainant, Rohit Kumar Narendra Kumar Jain, who runs a plywood business under the name Sumit Interior in the Rajendranagar, was in China when he received a WhatsApp message from a person allegedly posing as Prithviraj Kothari, whom he knew through his residential community.

---

The impersonator reportedly claimed he urgently required Rs 75 lakh in Ahmedabad and assured Jain that the amount would be returned through another person. Trusting the message, Jain arranged the money through an associate in Hyderabad. The cash was subsequently sent to Ahmedabad through a courier service.

The fraudsters instructed that the cash be handed over to a person identified as Babu Bhai. After the money was collected, the alleged recipients stopped responding. Jain realised he was duped and approached the police.

A Zero FIR was initially registered in Hyderabad and later forwarded to Kalupur Police Station in Ahmedabad, where the case was re-registered.

The Ahmedabad police examined CCTV footage and other available evidence to establish who had arrived to collect the cash. The investigation reportedly led police to Bharat Goswami, who was traced and arrested in Ahmedabad.

Police are now investigating Goswami’s alleged role in the operation and are working to identify the other members of the fraud network.