Man held for duping garment traders to tide up lockdown losses

Arora and his associate Vishal were in the garment business but during the lockdown, they suffered huge losses and to tide up the financial losses, they started duping people to earn a quick buck. They duped over 15 garment traders by placing orders on credit and in turn delivering the products to multiple sellers at cheaper rates, police said.

A man has been arrested for duping garment traders of lakhs of rupees to tide up the losses his business suffered due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown, police said on Tuesday. The accused has been identified as Sandip Arora, a resident of Geeta Colony. Using a fake name Rishi to hide his identity, he duped garment traders, police said. Arora and his associate Vishal were in the garment business but during the lockdown, they suffered huge losses and to tide up the financial losses, they started duping people to earn a quick buck. They duped over 15 garment traders by placing orders on credit and in turn delivering the products to multiple sellers at cheaper rates, police said. They said efforts are being made to arrest Vishal. The police said a probe was initiated on August 30 after a man named Gopal Das, a resident of Tuglakabad Extension, approached them with a complaint against Rishi. Das alleged that Rishi had come to his shop a month back and introduced himself as a garment trader.

Das, who also runs a garment business in southeast Delhi's Govindpuri, alleged that the accused told him that he recently opened his office in Tuglakabad Extension, and wanted to trade with him in garments. Das said he started accepting bulk orders of expensive clothes from Rishi.  On August 13, Rishi along with his friend came at Das's office and placed an order of 361 pieces of cloth after paying Rs 20,000 out of total payment Rs 75,810. Thereafter, on August 29, the accused demanded 600-700 more pieces of clothes, police said. Das delivered a total 640 pieces worth Rs 2 lakh. After collecting the consignment, the accused left Das's office and refused to pay the rest of the payment of Rs. 1,90,000, police said.

During investigation, police found out that the accused had duped more than 15 local garment traders using the same modus operandi. It was also found that the real name of the accused was was Sandip Arora, said RP Meena, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast). A case was registered against him under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code and on the intervening night of August 30-31, Arora was arrested from his residence in Geeta Colony, he said.

"On interrogation, the accused told the police that earlier he and his associate Vishal used to run a garments business at Gandhi Nagar and Geeta Colony. During the lockdown, they suffered huge losses and to tide up their losses, they planned to dupe other businessman to earn a quick buck. Arora started using a fake name so that his identity could not be traced. He then started duping people by placing orders on credit," the DCP said. They duped garment businessman of approximately Rs 15-16 lakhs and further delivered it to multiple sellers in at cheaper rates, police said. He and his associate Vishal divided the money equally and spent the cheated amount on their personal needs, he told police.