Trader dupes supplier of spices by taking delivery without payment at Guntur Station

VIJAYAWADA: A trader duped the Thrissur-based supplier of 500kg of cardamom and 50kg nutmeg, worth nearly ₹10 lakhs, by taking delivery of the parcel without paying the amount to the supplier at Guntur railway station the other day, the railway police said on Friday.

According to the railway police, the Guntur-based trader gave the address of a local fruit vendor when he placed the order for spices from the Thrissur-based supplier. “Accordingly, the supplier sent the consignment through railway parcel service, but without issuing any instructions to the railway authorities to either dispatch the consignment after payment at Thrissur or deliver the consignment after payment at Guntur railway station,” the RPF said.

“The address mentioned by the supplier was just a phone number of the local trader on the parcel waybill and the supplier even sent the scanned copy of the parcel waybill to the local trader on WhastApp,” the RPF added.

As per the RPF version, “The local trader carrying the copy of the parcel waybill arrived at the parcel office at the railway station and executed the indemnity bond He was not carrying the original copy and got the consignment delivered after verification by making a call on the mobile number mentioned on the bill.” The incident took place on May 22.

The RPF said that soon after the delivery of the consignment, the mobile phone was switched off and this caused the supplier to raise an alarm and rush to Guntur to expose the fraud and seek relief.

The railway authorities claim the supplier failed to follow the norms while sending the consignment. He did not mention the proper address of the consignee, the consignment was not insured, and its value was not mentioned except for its weight and no payment was made for it,” they reasoned.