Scammer cheats Pune woman of Rs 40 lakh after promising to marry her

Pune: A 29-year-old IT professional in Pune was cheated out of Rs 40 lakh by a scammer who posed as a rich businessman on Instagram, promised to marry her and took the money on various pretexts. He also made her take a loan to pay him, police said.

A first information report was registered at the Sangvi police station on Thursday. Police identified the suspect as Rakesh Kumar Chahar, a resident of Undri, and said he was currently in custody for cheating another woman in a similar manner.

According to the complaint registered at the Sangvi police station, the woman who works for a multinational IT company came in contact with the suspect through Instagram in May 2021.



As they started communicating, the suspect claimed he owned several properties and subsequently promised to marry her. The woman came to know much later that he had already been married.

Over several months, the suspect allegedly took money from the woman to fund his business and also on various other pretexts. She approached police recently when she realised she had been cheated.

Inspector Sunil Tambe, who is investigating the case, said, “The suspect has been identified and he is currently in the Lonikand station of the Pune City police. He will be transferred to our custody for the investigation in the case registered at the Sangvi police station.”