Hyderabad: Three held for duping people of Rs 23 lakh

Hyderabad: The Habeeb Nagar police arrested three persons involved in cheating people to the tune of Rs 23 lakh after collecting money for 'animal sacrifice' during the Bakrid festival. The police recovered the entire amount from them. The arrested persons were Mohd Naseer (30), Mohd Zafar Ahmed (29), and Mohd Ashfaq (27). According to the police, in view of the Bakrid festival for the share in Qurbani, the accused persons created a fraudulent app under the name of the Khidmath Foundation. Through this app, they collected a huge amount from the gullible public under the guise of offering shares in Qurbani (Hissa), promising to deliver the Qurbani (meat) share to customers during the Bakrid festival.

The police stated that the accused collected substantial amounts via GPay, PhonePe, and cash through their agents stationed at three counters in Mallepally, Shalibanda, and Tolichowki. On Bakrid Festival day, they failed to deliver the Qurbani shares to customers who had already paid Rs 2,800 per share. Out of 2,179 shares requested by 1,049 customers, they only delivered 500 shares.

Following a complaint from a resident of Aghapura who booked over 10 shares and paid Rs 28,000, the police registered a case U/s 406, 420, 467, 468, 471 r/w 34 IPC, Sec 66D of the IT Act, and Sec 5 of the Telangana Protection of Depositors of Financial Establishments Act, 1999.