Mangaluru: Surathkal police arrested two persons for allegedly cheating more than 3,000 people in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi to the tune of over Rs 4.2 crore through a fraudulent lucky scheme. The arrested are Ahammad Khureshi,34, and Nazeer alias Naseer,39, residents of Katipalla, Surathkal. Mangaluru City police commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy said that the company lured the public with an 11-month deposit scheme in which members were asked to pay Rs 1,000 for the first nine months and Rs 1,500 in the last two months. Members enrolled in the scheme were promised attractive prizes through a lucky draw, including cars, bikes, gold rings, sites, plots, and cash rewards. However, after collecting the instalments from members, the company shut down its office at Katipalla without returning the money or prizes. Shiva Prasad,38, a resident of Soorinje village, accused in his complaint that the operators of the scheme were cheating members through the unauthorised deposit scheme. Surathkal police registered a case under Sections 316(2), 318(4) of the BNS and Section 21 of the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes (BUDS) Act. The commissioner said both accused were arrested on Aug 19. The court remanded the accused in police custody till Aug 25 for further investigation. Khureshi, during interrogation, revealed links with Abdul Wahab and Basheer, who earlier ran similar schemes, he said. While computers, DVRs, registers, lucky draw coins, boxes, and other materials were seized from the company’s offices, police have written to the district administration to confiscate houses, plots, vehicles, gold, and other valuables purchased using the money collected through the scheme. Khureshi faces two cases of attempt to murder in Surathkal and one case in Mangaluru South police station for obstructing a govt official on duty. Naseer is also an accused in an attempt to murder case reported in Surathkal police station, he added.
