NAGPUR: A 40-year-old grain trader from Sai Baba Nagar in Wathoda was allegedly cheated of ₹4.78 lakh by an unidentified person who promised to arrange an ITC dealership in exchange for online payments, police said.

The complainant, Rupesh Mukund Vyas, a resident near Gopal Krishna Lawn, came across an advertisement related to ITC, a company based in Kolkata, West Bengal, while searching on Facebook on May 20, 2026.

According to the complaint, Vyas contacted a person identified as Vikam Gupta through the mobile number mentioned in the advertisement. The person allegedly provided information about the company and promised to help him secure a dealership.

The accused subsequently sent Vyas a letter regarding the distributorship through email and allegedly persuaded him to transfer money online to different bank accounts, purportedly towards insurance for a 10-year dealership arrangement.

Vyas transferred a total of ₹4,78,452. However, when the promised goods did not arrive, he contacted the person again and was allegedly assured that the consignment would be dispatched the following day.

Suspecting fraud, Vyas approached ITC’s office at Burhani House Complex in Nagpur to verify the dealership offer. Company representatives reportedly informed him that no such dealership arrangement was being offered.

He then realised that the email letter was allegedly fake and that he had been cheated.

Based on Vyas’s complaint, Wathoda police registered a case against an unidentified person under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Sections 308 and 318(4), which deal with extortion-related offences and cheating, respectively, as recorded in the police inputs.

Further investigation is underway.