JHARSUGUDA: A daily wager family of Gandhinagar in Belpahar has lost its life savings of Rs 1.69 lakh in ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ (KBC) lottery fraud. The victim, 26-year-old Nita Chhatar, lodged a complaint with Belpahar police in this regard following which a case was registered on Tuesday evening.
Sources said on February 23, Nita, daughter of Shakti Chhatar, received a call from an unknown number informing that her number has been selected in a lucky draw conducted by KBC and she has won Rs 35 lakh. The next day, she received another call from the same person stating that the lottery amount will be sent to her bank account for which she has to deposit Rs 18,200 in a specified account number.
Thinking that she has hit the jackpot, Nita and her family members deposited Rs 18,200 in the account from a money transfer kiosk at Belpahar. Then, the fraudster called Nita again and asked her to deposit Rs 35,000, Rs 31,000 and Rs 5,000 in three installments after sending a copy of the cheque of Rs 35 lakh to her WhatsApp number.
The frauster also informed that the original cheque will be sent to Nita by February 25. But before that, she has to deposit another Rs 40,000 in two installments to which Nita complied. But after waiting for several days, neither the cheque nor the lottery amount reached Nita as promised.
Nita became suspicious when on February 26, the fraudster told her to deposit Rs 65,000 for travel expenses of a person working in KBC to bring her the cheque from Dubai. She then decided to report the matter to the local police.
Nita requested the police to help her recover the money which was her family’s entire life savings. Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), Brajrajnagar said basing on the victim’s complaint, a case has been registered and investigation is on.