Hyderabad Man Loses Rs 31 L to Online Trading Scam

Hyderabad: A private employee from AS Rao Nagar was cheated of Rs 31.23 lakh by cyber fraudsters who ran fake investment platforms posing as reputed financial firms. The victim came across the fraudulent ads on Facebook and downloaded a trading app through a WhatsApp link in September. This is against police advise to internet users to only download apps from trusted sources like Google Play Store and iStore of Apple.

He was added to a WhatsApp group operated by individuals identifying themselves as Ananya Verma and Shiv Sehgal, who persuaded him to invest initially Rs 48,000 and later larger sums in IPOs, promising high returns.

When the victim attempted to withdraw his supposed profits, the fraudsters demanded additional payments of Rs 29.74 lakh as service charges and taxes. Despite multiple payments, his funds were never released. He also invested Rs 1.5 lakh in another fake platform, receiving only Rs 50,000 back, and Rs 50,000 in a bogus growth plan, from which no returns came.

Realising he had been duped, the victim lodged a complaint with the Rachakonda cyber crime police. A case under relevant sections of the IPC and IT Act has been registered. Investigators are tracing the network behind the WhatsApp groups and app servers used in the scam.

Group demands Rs 1L, attack family at housewarming

A 42-year-old software professional from Balaji Enclave, Keesara, was assaulted by a group of persons claiming to be transgender who demanded Rs 1 lakh during his housewarming ceremony. Police said the incident began when four persons arrived and insisted on the amount as a ‘customary gift’.

When houseowner P. Sadanandam refused, an argument broke out. One of them then called reinforcements, and around ten others arrived in three autorickshaws, attacking the family with sticks.

Sadanandam suffered head injuries that required four stitches, while his wife was allegedly pushed aside. The attackers fled soon after. Keesara police registered a case for causing grievous hurt, extortion attempt, abuse and criminal intimidation.

CCTV footage and autorickshaw registration numbers helped trace the accused, who have been served notices. “If they repeat the offence, they will be arrested,” said police officials, warning residents to report such extortion attempts during housewarming or festive events immediately.

Mason found murdered in Kothur

A 30-year-old mason was found murdered in the kitchen of an under-construction private venture at Kothur on Tuesday morning. Inspector G. Narsaiah said the deceased, Mohd Shamsul, a native of Bihar, had been working in Hyderabad for a year as a tile mason. He was found dead by co-workers who arrived for duty.

A case under Section 103 of the BNS was registered based on a complaint from his relative Sadaf, who also worked at the site. Shamsul’s body was shifted to Osmania General Hospital for postmortem.

Preliminary investigation revealed he was bludgeoned to death with a brick. Police are questioning his co-workers and probing possible motives. “We have not yet identified the main accused. There were no signs of alcohol consumption,” the Inspector said.

Other workers told police they were sleeping in a nearby venture and no one was present at the crime scene when the murder occurred.