Shakir Mir
SRINAGAR
A Bemina man claims of having been duped by some people posing as the employees of Airtel network.
Irshad Mushtaq Bhat of Gulshan Abad, Bemina received a call from ‘121’ on his Airtel number. He was told by the man on the other end of the line that he had won a ‘bumper prize’ to the tune of Rs 25 lakh. Irshad claims that he was made to talk with Amitabh Bachchan as well who gave him a note of congratulation.
“They told me that I have to first deposit Rs 1, 35000 as income tax,” said Irshad. A man introducing himself as Prithvi Raj had asked him to reach the Airtel office near Highland Motors at Sonwar. “He was dressed in a proper tie and suit and carried an ID card of Airtel as well,” he said.
Irshad handed over Rs 85,000 to the man in cash on his insistence on 26th August. “He told me to deposit the remnant Rs 50,000 in a Punjab National Bank account of one M Rajini from Delhi.” The man gave Irshad some documents and told him to submit them to the officials at his own bank. Following the meeting, Irshad rushed to the J&K bank branch at Bemina. “I was shocked when people at the bank told me that they had no liaison with anybody involved with those documents,” Irshad says.
Irshad immediately rushed to the Crime Branch of J&K police and filed an FIR. But officials are telling him that they aren’t able to trace out perpetrators since all “the transactions have taken place on the internet.” Irshad said he is depressed since he has to get his ailing daughter treated which costs him some Rs 4 lakh.
