Pune Cyber Cell busts racketeers who duped people through fake auditions

NPnews24 Online Pune: The officials from the Cyber Crime Cell of Pune city police have nabbed two persons hailing from Madhya Pradesh, who used to cheat people under pretext of helping their children get through auditions for Sony TV serials.

The arrest was made in a case registered by a couple at Kondhwa police station. The arrested persons have been identified as Saurabh Mahesh Shriwas (34) and his brother Vaibhav Mahesh Shriwas (25), both residents of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.

According to police, the complainant had seen advertisement on Facebook regarding audition for child artists for a serial on Sony TV. They contacted on the given number. “We were asked to send the photos and profile of our daughter. After sending the details, they asked us to come to Mumbai for audition and transfer Rs 25,000 as security deposit in a bank account. Later they asked to transfer Rs 30,000 for agreement. We sent the amount and when to Mumbai, their phone numbers was switched off. Also, when we went to the address given to us, we found that it was fake”, the complainant stated in the FIR.

After they approached Kondhwa police station, the case was registered for offence under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.

The cops received information that the accused Saurabh would reach Shirdi. Accordingly, a team was sent there and he was arrested. After his brother’s name cropped up, he was also arrested.

DCP (cyber cell) Sambhaji Kadam, ACP Nilesh More, Police inspectors Radhika Phadke, Rajkumar Waghchaure supervised the investigation team which included PSI Kiran Aute, constables Nitin Chandane, Shirish Gavde, Yogesh Ohval, and Santosh Jadhav.