Now Reading: Two fraud cases in Mohali, Pune; couples and impersonator held
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Two fraud cases in Mohali, Pune; couples and impersonator held
Hindustan Times reports two separate fraud cases. In Mohali, police booked travel agent couple Mohit Anand and Nisha Anand for allegedly duping tour operator Sumehak Bansal of Rs 70 lakh by issuing…
The Story in Brief
Hindustan Times reports two separate fraud cases. In Mohali, police booked travel agent couple Mohit Anand and Nisha Anand for allegedly duping tour operator Sumehak Bansal of Rs 70 lakh by issuing fake hotel booking vouchers for international trips. Bansal transferred the money between May and June 2024; when his clients reached hotels in Spain, Monaco, France, the Netherlands, Thailand and Switzerland, no valid bookings existed. The couple later issued cheques that bounced.
In Pune, police arrested Siddharth Devdas Zende for posing as builder Pragati Buildcon and cheating a jeweller of Rs 14.78 lakh by taking 100 grams of gold bars on a bogus cheque. Police recovered Rs 8.50 lakh from him. He allegedly used similar methods to cheat car dealers, hotel operators and women. Cases under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita have been registered in both incidents.
The Indian Opinion
Two frauds from different states share a pattern: exploiting trust in routine transactions. The popular narrative often blames victims for being naive, but these scams involved cheques, bank transfers and even an affidavit. The real failure is in verification systems, hotels and jewellers accepted vouchers and cheques without real-time confirmation. The test ahead is whether booking platforms and payment gateways can flag anomalies faster so that victims are not stranded or left with worthless paper.
Sources (2): hindustantimes.com, hindustantimes.com (2)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
