Bengaluru fraudster arrested

MYSURU: Beware of fraudsters when you sell used items online, for the buyer can turn out to be a fraudster.
Mysuru police have arrested a 29-year-old man from Bengaluru for allegedly cheating sellers of used items. Imam Rabbani was arrested following efforts by Narasimharaja police who were investigating a case wherein the accused, posing as prospective buyer, had cheated television set dealers in the city.During the course of interrogation, it was revealed that Rabbani, along with two accomplices, had cheated sellers of used car, laptops and cellphones in Bengaluru.
The cases in Bengaluru relate to online ad postings. Rabbani would respond to such advertisements and pose as a techie and prospective buyer. He would then buy the used items, offering cheques to gullible sellers. The crime would come to light with bouncing of the cheques issued by Rabbani.
Rabbani remained scot-free until he took his crime offline. A month ago, he visited two electronic shops in Mysuru, claiming to be the general manager of a reputed hospital, and placed a bulk order for television sets. The shops were asked to make the delivery at the hospital. Unsuspecting dealers sent their employees with Rabbani. They were asked to deliver the TV sets to the hospital’s ‘storeroom’.
After this, they were taken to the ‘hospital’ and asked to wait. Rabbani did not turn up and transported the TV sets to Bengaluru the same day.
Inspector Gajendra Prasad told TOI that he had bought nearly 22 new TV sets from the two shops the same day.
Prasad said that Rabbani used to frequently change his cellphone numbers. “But we took up the investigation with the two available numbers and started locating him from locations of the mobile towers. Our team visited Bengaluru four times in a span of one month, but had returned empty handed. However, we succeeded in arresting him recently.
Two of his associates are absconding.