Phone distributor cheated of ` 2 crore, accused absconding

A mobile phone store owner from Ekta Nagar i n Mumbai, who alle gedly cheated a phone distributor of Rs2.69 crore, has been booked by the APMC police.

However, no arrest has been made so far.

According to the police, the distributor Bhupesh Agarwal, 30, imports mobile phones and other accessories from a Chinese company and he has his office in APMC.

The accused, who runs a mobile store in Mumbai, had purchased phones from him five times earlier.

He might h ave ear ned Ag arwal’s t r ust, s aid t he police.

“In the previous transac- tions, the suspected had paid the money to the complainant within the promised timeframe and hence the complainant took him for a loyal person,” said Sunil Tramale, police sub-inspector from APMC police station.

In the sixth transaction, he took mobile phones worth Rs 2.69 crore from the complainant promising the money within a short time. However, he closed his store and went into hiding after that, sais Tramale.

“Even after repeated attempt when the complainant could not contact the accused, he approached us and registered a first information report (FIR) on Wednesday. We have booked the accused under section 420 ( punishment for cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). We are now searching for him and hope to arrest him soon,” he said.

When asked if the accused cheated other distributors earlier, another police officer said, “We are exploring that angle too. However, we have not found any record of him so far.”