Nagpur: A 36-year-old mobile shop owner from New Kamptee was allegedly duped of ₹2 lakh by cyber fraudsters posing as insurance officials on the pretext of helping him surrender a Tata AIA Life Insurance policy.
Based on the victim’s complaint, New Kamptee Police have registered an FIR under Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Section 66(C) of the Information Technology Act.
The complainant has been identified as Pankaj Suresh Vaswani (36), a resident of Mahavir Nagar near Jain Mandir, New Kamptee, Nagpur, who runs Sai Baba Mobile Shop.
According to police, Vaswani had purchased a Tata AIA Life Insurance policy in his wife Janhavi Pankaj Vaswani’s name in 2022 and had paid a total premium of ₹2 lakh over four years. When he decided to surrender the policy and recover the amount, he searched online for the insurance company’s contact number.
He allegedly contacted 9284294332, where the person on the other end claimed that the policy could be closed but first asked him to pay ₹50,000 as “CBC charges.” Subsequently, another person identifying himself as Parmjeet Sharma, calling from 9721823079, assured the complainant that after paying the charges, he would receive ₹3,88,165 as the policy settlement.
To make the claim appear genuine, the fraudsters also sent a PDF document to the complainant’s mobile phone. Believing their assurances, Vaswani transferred ₹2 lakh in four transactions from his Canara Bank and Indian Bank accounts.
The accused repeatedly told him that the settlement amount would be credited within 15 days. However, two days later, Parmjeet Sharma allegedly called again and demanded an additional ₹2 lakhfor processing the policy closure.
Growing suspicious, Vaswani visited the Tata AIA Life Insurance office at Shankar Nagar, where officials informed him that no such payment or procedure existed. Realising he had been cheated, he approached the police.
Police have registered a case against the unidentified accused and launched an investigation into the cyber fraud. The probe is being conducted by Sub-Inspector Vikas Tidke under the supervision of Senior Police Inspector Mahesh Andhale.
