Thugs of Sikkim Dupes a Man of Rs.1.3 crores

The Lucknow Police Cyber Cell apprehended an interstate thug in an online fraud case from Sikkim on tuesday.

Othenel Roy, the proprietor of a hotel in South Sikkim, had duped a man for Rs 1.38 core by impersonating a custom official.

The accused admitted to his crime and stated that he carried it out with his assistant Vinod Thapa of Darjeeling, West Bengal, who was apprehended on March 21.

The victim of the fraud, Naveen Singh Samuel of Lucknow, got a call on August 4, 2022, informing him of a parcel sent in his name from Poland to his address in India.

The caller presented himself as customs inspector John. When Samuel contacted the individual who had sent him the parcel, the sender identified himself as Dr Felix Warsaw of Poland.

He explained that he was inspired by videos of religious events that Samuel had posted on YouTube and that he was sending the parcel as a gift to him.

“After that, John called Samuel and informed him that the parcel contained a million pounds sterling and gold. The fake customs officer demanded  Samuel to pay income tax, anti-money laundering tax, overdraft fees, processing fees, and other taxes, and received Rs 1.38 crore deposited in various bank accounts,” police said.

In his confession, the main accused stated that he worked at a hotel in New Delhi and had contact with foreign citizens. He established a gang, enlisting some foreign nationals who were glib talkers, and duped several people by promising to send expensive items as gifts, said the cyber cell’s investigation director Firoz Badar.

“Othenel Roy had improved his accent and passed himself off as a foreign national to the unsuspecting people he called up by associating with foreign nationals for a long time. Roy later relocated to Sikkim and established a new gang,” the investigating officer the case added.

Roy has confessed his crime that he described himself as a foreign national while duping people worth of crores, the officer stated.