According to the police, the accused, identified as Anoop Kumar and Samir Sharma have been arrested while three of their accomplices – Roshan, Vikash and Viru - are absconding.
Motivated with the success of Baba Ramdev's 'swadesi' FMCG brand 'Patanjali', two men from Noida decided to make some quick money by developing an innovative way of committing fraud. The two were arrested by the Noida cyber cell on Thursday. The duo had duped scores of people by promising distributorship of Patanjali products.
According to the police, the accused, identified as Anoop Kumar and Samir Sharma have been arrested while three of their accomplices – Roshan, Vikash and Viru - are absconding.
The complainant, falling prey to their plan, said he had paid Rs 10 lakh for the distributorship and then sought a meeting with them. However, the accused demanded Rs 6 lakh more, and refused to meet him. Suspecting a foul play, the victim filed a case in Sector 20 police station after which the accused were arrested.
"It was Kumar's idea, who decided to make an online website to offer fake Patanjali dealership. He googled for a developer and came in contact with Sameer Sharma, who was a web developer and ad-word specialist," said a senior police officer.
The website (patanjalidistributors.org) was developed by Sharma and was registered on the name of his wife. The website had details of Kumar, who would masquerade as Acharya Balkrishna's PA.
Kumar also had several accomplices, who would provide him bank accounts for getting money transferred from unsuspecting individuals.
"It is shocking to learn that these fraudsters were able to convince individuals from different states, including Kerela, Tamil Nadu, Chennai etc. They would these investors to submit a certain amount on the pretext of security money and deposits to take the franchise. In the process, they were able to make more than Rs 40 lakh," said the officer.
They were caught only after they attempted a similar fraud with a Noida jeweller. A case was registered with cyber cell and they tracked them down with help of surveillance resources.
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