Interstate gang held for duping e-comm firm

Agra: Muzaffarnagar police on Saturday arrested three members of an alleged interstate gang accused of cheating an e-commerce platform by ordering gold coins, gold biscuits, costly mobile phones, etc and later removing the valuables and returning empty parcels.Accused Dinesh, 29, Surya, 27, and Bhup Singh, 32 — residents of Bassi in Jaipur, Rajasthan -- were arrested near Sahawali following a tip-off. Two other alleged gang members, Ashok and Hitesh, are absconding.Police said two gold coins, two gold biscuits and four mobile phones valued at Rs4-5 lakh were recovered from the accused.SSP Sanjay Kumar Verma said the gang procured multiple SIM cards using credentials of economically vulnerable persons and placed prepaid orders for gold and silver items on the e-commerce platform. The consignments were delivered through Blue Dart."After placing the order, the accused would contact the delivery personnel and intercept them on the way. They lured them into cancelling the order by offering a share of the Rs 500 cancellation incentive. The parcels were then opened, valuables removed and the boxes resealed before being returned," Verma said.Police said the gang had allegedly siphoned off 17–18 gold coins and was planning similar operations in Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Meerut and parts of Chhattisgarh.The case came to light after one Vinod Pal, an authorised official of Blue Dart, submitted a written complaint at Nai Mandi police station on Feb 2, stating that five parcels containing gold biscuits and coins were ordered through Amazon and delivered to the given address. The recipient allegedly took possession of the parcels, removed the gold items and returned empty boxes.Based on the complaint, a case was registered under relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for cheating, theft and criminal conspiracy.During investigation, police found that the gang consists of five members and operated from Rajasthan.SSP Verma announced a reward of Rs 15,000 for the police team and said efforts were on to arrest the remaining accused and dismantle the network.