Five held for duping people on pretext of investments

LUCKNOW: Five fraudsters, including three of a family, were arrested by UP Special Task Force (STF) on Wednesday for duping retired government officials on pretext of health insurances and investments in different companies, said police officials.

The officials said the same gang had duped ₹40 lakh from retired additional director of medical health and family welfare Dr CB Chaurasiya and ₹ 4.14 lakh from retired deputy SP Ranjeet Singh Bora recently. They said the gang was involved in cheating several people in past five years and operated a call centre in Lucknow’s Vikas Nagar area to make calls to their prospective targets.

Additional SP of STF Vishal Vikram Singh said those arrested were identified as Abhinav Saxena, his wife Priya Saxena and sister Neha Saxena and two accomplices Ved Prakash and Mohd Arman. He said Neha’s husband Ritesh Singh was also involved in the gang but he was arrested in a separate fraud case lodged at Vikas Nagar police station in July and presently lodged in jail.

He said Neha Saxena is an employee of a certified insurance company and she shared details of customers mainly retired government officers with his husband and brother. He said the fraudsters started approaching their prospective targets through their call centres and get cash or cheques in name of a firm floated in fake address on pretext of making investments in companies assuring hefty returns. He said Ved Prakash and Aslam assisted Saxenas in the entire fraud.