Maha: Duped Pune artist targets others with same modus operandi to pay off debts

An animation artist who was duped during coronavirusinduced lockdown and came under debt was arrested from Pune for allegedly cheating traders here with the same modus operandi police said on TuesdayThe accused has been identified as Piyush Sharma 33 a resident of Pune in Maharashtra they saidSharmas bluff was called after a businessman in Sadar Bazar lodged a complaint alleging that he had been cheated to the tune of Rs 173 lakhAccording to police the businessman had placed an order of 1200 kilograms pooja and havan items on an ecommerce portal He then received a call from an unidentified person who claimed that he dealt in wholesale trading of the items and could provide them at discounted rates they saidThe accused also sent the tax invoice of Vijay Creation Katraj Kondhwa Road Pune Maharashtra a registration certificate and a visiting card to the complainant a senior police officer saidThe accused later took Rs 173100 as advance payment and the rest of the amount was to be paid post delivery After receiving the advance the accused switched off his mobile phone and never delivered the items Three complaints of the same modus operandi were also found to be linked the officer saidAlso readLifesize statue of Sachin Tendulkar to be sculpted at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai All you need to knowDuring investigation police found that the accused was operating from Pune Raids were conducted and he was arrested from an apartment Deputy Commissioner of Police north Sagar Singh Kalsi saidSharma disclosed that he used to run a shop of havan and pooja items and later started his own business in the fieldDuring lockdown he was cheated by some people and suffered a huge loss which left him debt ridden To repay the debt and earn quick money he started cheating other traders across the country through the same fraudulent means the DCP saidThe officer said the accused has done a diploma in animations and has good knowledge of Photoshop He can easily make fake visiting cards and forge bills or other documents the DCP addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever