A 48-year-old banker, identified as Motikumar Thakur from Gujarat’s Ranip in Ahmedabad, reportedly lost Rs 48.72 lakh in a stock market investment scam.
Thakur, a resident of Shreeji Krishna Residency near Subhash Bridge, stated in his complaint lodged with the city Cybercrime police that he had received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number on April 8, sharing market trading tips.
When Thakur responded to the message, a man who identified himself as Jayant Piramal provided him with various tips on stock market investment.
Piramal then added him to a WhatsApp group where a woman named Aditi Sharma shared a link to join another WhatsApp group. In the second group, various IPO tips were shared, but Thakur did not earn any profit. When Thakur informed Sharma about this, she instructed him to download an app and register with it. Thakur downloaded the app and started investing money as per Sharma’s instructions.
According to the FIR, Thakur invested Rs 48.72 lakh between May and June, and his profit as displayed in the mobile app was Rs 99 lakh. However, when he attempted to withdraw the money, he was instructed to invest more. This led him to suspect that he was defrauded, and he approached the Cybercrime helpline.
The Cybercrime police registered a complaint against unknown persons under the sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) related to breach of trust, cheating, and criminal conspiracy, along with charges under the Information Technology Act.
