TN scrap dealer loses Rs.10 lakh to conmen

Mysuru: A scrap dealer from Tamil Nadu became a victim of conmen as he lost Rs.10.5 lakh to their smooth-talking and false claims. The conmen claimed ownership of scrap transformers and  struck a deal with the TN scrap dealer. The dealer realised that he has been conned only when he tried to load the scrap transformers into a truck.

The incident occurred in Udayagiri Police Station limits and the Police are now on the lookout for the conmen based on the details of their bank transactions.

Sahul Ahmed, a dealer of scrap electric items and a resident of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, was contacted by Afsar of Bengaluru and Aslam Basha from Tumakuru through scrap broker from Bengaluru Abdul Khuddus.

They told Abdul that they had tonnes of transformer scrap in Mysuru and wanted someone to buy them. They also promised a good deal.

Accordingly, Abdul contacted scrap dealer Sahul Ahmed and asked him to come to Mysuru. On June 22, Ahmed came to city and was taken to Shabana Shadi Mahal at Rajiv Nagar.

Showing the scrap transformers at a vacant site near the Shadi Mahal, Afsar and Aslam Basha claimed that they owned the scrap that is worth Rs.15 lakh. Actually, the scrap belonged to someone else.

They told Sahul that they would sell the scrap for Rs.10.5 lakh and asked for an advance of Rs.1.5 lakh. Convinced by their smooth-talking, Sahul readily agreed to the deal and did not bother to check the veracity of the scrap ownership.

He immediately handed over Rs.1.5 lakh as advance and promised to pay the remaining Rs.9 lakh at the time of transporting the scrap.

Sahul returned to Madurai and on June 25, he arrived in a truck to transport the scrap transformers and before taking away the scrap, he transferred Rs.9 lakh to the accounts of Afsar and Aslam Basha. When the scrap transformers were being lifted from the site at Rajiv Nagar, the actual owners objected. They told Sahul that the transformers do not belong to Afsar and Aslam Basha.

Sahul realised that he has been conned and lodged a complaint with Udayagiri Police.

He later realised that the moment he transferred the money to the bank accounts of the conmen through RTGS, the entire Rs.9 lakh was withdrawn from different ATMs.

Based on Sahul’s complaint, Udayagiri Inspector Santhosh has registered a case and is scanning the bank accounts of Afsar and Aslam to trace them.

This post was published on June 28, 2018 6:45 pm