Paonta Sahib ex-serviceman duped of Rs 14L, woman held

Solan, January 12

The Paonta Sahib police arrested Amritsar resident Harpreet Kaur (30) from Kharar (Punjab) last evening. The arrest was made on the charge of duping ex-serviceman Naresh Kumar (45) of Rs 14 lakh on the pretext of getting him employed at the ICICI Bank branch in Nahan.

She was arrested on the basis of inputs provided by accused Sanjay Sharma of Saharanpur, who was arrested on January 5.

Bank job promised

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• Ex-serviceman Naresh Kumar (45), who retired from the Army in 2020, was promised a job at a bank in Nahan
• He was asked to send his PAN, Aadhaar etc. on a Mumbai address, besides paying money on the promise that it would be refunded with the first salary.

Paonta Sahib DSP Ramakant Thakur said Harpreet used the account number and Aadhaar number of Sanjay Sharma in lieu of a payment of Rs 20,000. The duo came in touch with each other at Solan. She later rented his room, posing as ex-manager of a private company who lost her job during the Covid pandemic.

It was yet to be ascertained how the victim’s mobile phone number was obtained by the accused. An FIR was registered under Section 420 of the IPC on November 27 following a complaint by Naresh Kumar. The victim, who retired from the Army in 2020, hails from Kishenkot village. He had received a phone call and the caller identified himself as an HR official of the ICICI Bank.

He was told that a supervisor’s job was available at the bank’s Nahan branch. He was asked to send his PAN, Aadhaar and educational qualification details on a Mumbai address and pay money in instalments for the verification and completion of the file. He was told that the money would be refunded to him with the first salary.