The Flower Bazaar police recently arrested a man belonging to a two-member gang that has been defrauding people of money by advertising to offer Harley-Davidson bikes at throwaway prices on free online advertising websites.
The city police stumbled upon the scam when Mikdat of Malappuram, Kerala, lodged a complaint with the North Beach police station recently.
He stated that he had seen an advertisement on OLX that offered a ‘Harley Davidson’ motorcycle worth Rs. 13 lakh for Rs. 4 lakh.
When he called the number, the advertiser, who introduced himself as Thyagarajan, told him that he had purchased it from a Customs auction in Chennai.
“Mikdat was asked to come near Beach railway station to collect the bike. After he arrived there, Thyagarajan asked him to deposit Rs. 2 lakh in his bank account to pay the Custom’s duty,” said a police officer.
After the money was transferred, Mikdat tried calling Thyagarajan’s number, but his phone was switched off. After trying for a day, he lodged a complaint with the police. A special team comprising assistant commissioner Yuvaraj, North Beach station inspector Babu Rajendra Bose and constables was formed by deputy commissioner Senthil Kumar.
“During investigation, we tracked the bank account number and found that it belonged to one Karthik, but the address was fake. We nabbed Karthik and he revealed that Thyagarajan’s real name was Wasim Irshad and the two used to cheat people together,” said the officer.
While Wasim placed advertisements using a fake name, Karthik’s job was to open bank accounts with fake addresses and obtain SIM cards.
“The special team is now searching for Wasim,” added the officer.
Wasim Irshad, who is still at large, advertised the bike for Rs. 4 lakh using a fake name
