2 Noida-based fraudsters get 10-yr RI in cheating case

Balasore: The EOW court Special Judge, Biswajit Das, on Saturday convicted two fraudsters and sentenced them to 10 years rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 3 lakh each in a cheating case. The convicts will undergo further imprisonment of two years each in default of fine, the Judge ordered.

The convict duo, identified as Bijay Bharadwaj and Himanshu Bhandari of Noida, were tried by the court under various sections of IT Act and found guilty. The court pronounced the verdict after examining eight witnesses. Both the convicts would undergo different jail terms under different sections which would run concurrently.

The two accused had duped Pramod Kumar Rout, a businessman of Joda, of Rs 2.35 crore on the pretext of paying him Rs 3 crore under Pradhan Mantri Rahat Kosh Yojana in lieu of his insurance policy using forged and manipulated documents.

Rout had one policy in an insurance firm. In 2019, he received a call from the fraudster who identified himself as A K Walia, the Fund Raising Head, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. He told Pramod that his insurance policy has been selected for reward under Pradhan Mantri Rahat Kosh Yojana of Government of India and an amount of Rs 3 crore will be released in his account.

Being induced, the victim transferred around Rs 2.35 crore in instalments believing that after these procedures, he will get the reward money. When no amount was received under Pradhan Mantri Rahat Kosh Yojana, Pramod realised that he had been cheated by the fraudsters. The fraudsters had sent many fake letters on WhatsApp to the informant issued by the Ministry of Finance, RBI, Income Tax department and images of two demand drafts in favour of the informant amounting to Rs 1.27 crore and Rs 70.81 lakh. These letters and documents were found to be forged.

During investigation, it was found that out of the fraud amount of Rs 2.35 crore, Rs 63.09 lakh and Rs 79 lakh had been transferred to the accounts of accused Himanshu Bhandari and Bijay Bharadwaj and they misappropriated the money. Himanshu and Bijay were arrested in Uttar Pradesh in 2022.