Bengaluru: Victim turns into sleuth, helps cops nab fraudster
A Kerala-based man, who had duped Vikram on July 1 and absconded with the money.
BENGALURU: City-based software professional Vikram Agrawal (33) mustered all his sleuthing instincts to look for every minute detail that could lead him to the whereabouts of the fraudster, who had last week duped him of Rs 3 lakh on the pretext of selling a second hand car on an e-commerce site.
After spending sleepless nights for over a week and keeping a track of the accused, Vikram along with the HAL police nabbed Bobby Philip, a Kerala-based man, who had duped Vikram on July 1 and absconded with the money.
Bobby was arrested by HAL police on Wednesday late evening from his house in Kadugodi. He was on the run since July 1, after he had received the payment for a Honda Car. “Based on his call records and the latest transactions he made, the police zeroed in on him and arrested him from his house in Kadugodi,” said a police officer.
Deccan Chronicle had reported about the fraud in its July 12 edition. Vikram told DC, “I am relieved that he has been caught and is in police custody now. I had kept a close watch on him. With the help of HAL police we managed to keep a track on his call record details. On Saturday, while checking the CDR, we learnt that Bobby had swiped his card at Inorbit Mall in Whitefield and purchased a washing machine from Reliance Digital. While the police took it casually, I came home and made a call to the outlet on Sunday impersonating as Bobby and learnt his new address. We went to his new address in Kadugodi and spoke to the security guard who confirmed it was his address.”
He further said, “While on Monday after waiting for him till 1.30 am when we found no traces of him, we came back. On Wednesday, again I went to his new house address and was looking for the car, when I saw Bobby coming in. I immediately alerted the police who then came to the spot and detained him,” added Vikram.
According to the police, during questioning, Bobby confessed to the crime and told the police that he was undergoing financial crisis which drove him to commit the crime. Based on the statement, HAL police arrested Bobby and recovered Rs 3 lakh from him.