HYDERABAD: In a first of its kind fraud, a techie was duped of over Rs 1.50 lakh by conmen who promised to provide ayurvedic medication for his son for his speech impairment. According to the complaint, a stranger, who identified himself as Durgappa, met him during a visit to the shopping mall, struck a conversation and offered help for his son’s health condition.
This took place in September 2021 but came to light only after the techie approached the police and lodged a complaint. The complainant told police that he realised that he was cheated only after repeated attempts to contact Durgappa and his brother Gurappa failed.
In his complaint, the techie said that Durgappa approached him and told him that his brother’s daughter also suffered from speech impairment, but was cured after using ayurvedic medicine. He took the techie’s contact number and offered help in getting the medicine.
The next day, the techie received a call from a person identifying himself as Durgappa’s brother Gurappa who took him to an ayurvedic store in SR Nagar. They purchased some ingredients and the total bill came to around Rs 1.81 lakh.
However, there was no improvement in the child, and when the techie went to the shop, he found it closed. Also, the mobile phones of Gurappa and Durgappa were switched off. Inquiries revealed that several other people were cheated in the same manner.