Solan woman duped of Rs 15 lakh

The Solan police have registered an FIR against two men for allegedly duping a woman of Rs 15 lakh. According to Solan SP Gaurav Singh, the woman had hired seven youth, including Vikas Sharma from Gujarat, in June 2022 to run her restaurant. Vikas allegedly lured her into investing money on the promise of high returns. He provided her with a mobile phone containing two SIM cards — one linked to the restaurant and another in her name — and operated an Airtel account connected to the device.

From August 2023 to January 2024, Vikas convinced her to transfer money into the Airtel account and mortgaged her jewellery with Muthu Finance, claiming it was necessary to secure earlier investments. In February 2024, Vikas fled without informing anyone.

Later, his associate Sumeet claimed Vikas owed him Rs 2 lakh and asked the woman to arrange Rs 4 lakh to retrieve her jewelry.

Between March 21-23, 2024, she transferred the amount as instructed. Sumeet promised to pay Rs 7 lakh by May 7, 2024, but failed to do so. After repeated demands, he returned only Rs 1 lakh.

The woman filed a complaint on January 19, 2025, leading to an FIR against Vikas and Sumeet for breach of trust, cheating, and criminal conspiracy. The police have initiated an investigation into the matter.