An ex-Indian Army personnel has been conned by people posing to sell him a sizable chunk of a 'meteorite', robbing him of his lifetime earnings standing Rs 1.25 crores.
They lured the Indian Army personnel Khilaf Singh Bisht, a resident of Dehradun with the promise that this rare piece of cosmic and other worldly item would fetch him atleast Rs 5000 crore in international markets.
Arun Mohan Joshi, deputy-inspector general of police, Dehradun said, "Case has been registered under relevant sections including section 420 (Cheating) of Indian Penal Code 1860. Investigation has been launched into the matter and soon we hope to crack the case."
In year 2017, two of Bisht's acquaintances told him about a man dealing in 'rare antiques' which could fetch profit beyond 'wildest of imaginations'. After, he agreed to meet the man, the duo took him to meet a man posing as a chief executive officer of a company dealing in antiques.
He was made to deposit the amount of Rs 10.95 lakh and later in duration of an year made him pay a total sum of Rs 1.25 Crore.
Later, in year 2018 the people from the company told him that the meteorite emits harmful radiation so it needs to be transported in a safe container.
They also arranged a 'seller' for Bisht who would supposedly pay Rs 10 Crore immediately and the rest of the amount in phases.
After travelling with them to Delhi and Himachal to 'inspect' the meteorite weighing around 21kgs he was told that the item will be transported within a week to him.
Later in year 2018, he was informed that Indian Army has raided and seized the meteorite after which he realized he was duped.