Mumbai: A 58-year-old retiree from South Mumbai was allegedly duped out of Rs 8.25 lakh by a man she met on a dating app, police said on Tuesday. The woman, a resident of Colaba, reportedly met the accused, identified as Sudhir Alok Dhar, on Tinder last August and soon exchanged numbers and started chatting with him. Later, the pair would meet at a hotel and the accused proposed to the victim for a live-in relationship that could graduate to a marriage if things went well. According to the FIR lodged at a local police station on Monday, Dhar claimed that he was staying in a hotel as his house was being renovated and told the victim that he owned a fishing business. 

He claimed that he was exporting fish to Vietnam and Singapore and earning a good profit in the process. It was at this point that Dhar allegedly asked the victim if she wanted to invest in his business. The victim initially transferred Rs 25,000 to Dhar's account before he demanded another Rs 20,000 from her. His demands for more money continued, with the victim continuing to send the money to Dhar by mortgaging her jewellery and borrowing money from her brother. 

When the accused failed to keep his promise of giving the victim a return on investment within 60 days, the woman grew suspicious and found more information about Dhar which led her to realise that she had been cheated.   .

Dhar gave the victim a cheque of Rs 10 lakh on January 3, but when it bounced, she decided to lodge a complaint, the official said.

Based on her complaint, the police on Monday registered a case under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

With inputs from PTI.