Man held for duping people by luring them to invest in fradulant schemes

The police have arrested a man who allegedly duped people by luring them into his fradulent schemes after promising them high returns, officials said on Monday.

Sudhir Parkash Sharma and his associates targeted people living in slum clusters in the national capital and lured them to make small investments in his company, they said.

Sharma and his associates convinced people to open fixed deposit accounts and invest Rs 100 daily for a year to get a return of Rs 41,400 after 12 months.

The fraudulent schemes were being run by the gang through their fake company in south Delhi's Kalkaji, which has been operational since 2013, police said.

Sharma and his associates have so far duped at least 25 people, they said.

Elaborating on the modus operandi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur said, "Initially, the gang members returned the maturity amount to win people's trust and in turn attract more investments into their schemes. But after collecting a huge amount, they refused to refund the amount." After duping people, they would close down their office and switch off their mobile phones, he said.

The matter came to light after police received a complaint from a woman named Zahira Khatoon, who alleged that Sharma and his associates cheated her of Rs 1,36,000 by making her invest in his schemes after promising high returns, the DCP said.

Sharma, however, was arrested on Saturday from Mehar Chand market while he was convincing some people to make investments, he said.

The police have taken Sharma into police remand for three days and further investigation is underway to nab his associates and recover the cheated amount.