NEW DELHI: A 29-year-old B Tech dropout was arrested for selling fake tickets of the concert of Punjab singer Diljit Dosanjh scheduled to be held in the national capital on October 26-27.
The accused, identified as Kaushik Raj, spent the cheated amount of Rs 6.75 lakh by travelling to multiple cities and purchasing an iPhone worth Rs.1,35,000 and an Apple Watch worth Rs.50,000.
The Delhi Police had recently through an Instagram post alerted people not to fall into the trap of scammers while buying tickets of the concert.
The police used the lyrics from Dosanjh's hit track 'Oh Paise Puse Baare Billo Soche Duniya' from his GOAT album, writing, “Gana sunne ke chakkar me ticket ke liye galat link par paise puse dekar apna band na bajwa lena” (Don't fall for fake ticket links and end up getting scammed; always verify first).
Sharing details of the fraud, Deputy Commissioner of Police (south) Ankit Chauhan said a man lodged a complaint at Cyber police station (south district) stating that he was trying to purchase tickets for the upcoming concert of a singer in Delhi.
"While searching for tickets he got information about one Kaushik Raj from a friend who provided the contact number of the alleged Kaushik Raj. Accordingly, the complainant contacted the suspect on his mobile number who assured the tickets," the DCP said.
The accused Raj initially sent five complimentary tickets through email to the complainant for the event and received the money in his personal account. After relying upon him, the complainant decided to purchase tickets for his family and friends as well.
Further, till September 11, the complainant purchased a total of 69 tickets of different categories amounting to Rs 4,76,870.
"When the complainant contacted the Paytm insider’s helpline to verify the tickets, he was informed that the tickets were invalid or fake," the officer said.
The man then approached the police who lodged an FIR and initiated an investigation. From the analysis of money trails, the cops managed to zero down a bank account, registered in the name of the accused Kaushik Raj, in which the entire cheated amount was transferred.
"An amount of Rs 4.61 lakh in 16 transactions was transferred to the bank account and the same was utilised by the account holder for self-expenses and most of the cheated amount was withdrawn through self-cheque," the officer said.
The cops zeroed down on Kaushik Raj's location in Bengaluru but by the time a Delhi Police team reached the southern state, the police found out that he was travelling in a train. Subsequently, the cops kept tracking him and caught him at Nizamuddin Railway Station.
During interrogation, the accused disclosed that after deceiving the complainant and two others, residents of Chandigarh and West Bengal for a total of around Rs 6.75 lakhs, he switched off his mobile phone and left Delhi. He then traveled to Bengaluru, Goa, and Mumbai, staying at various hotels.