Fake customs official dupes Secunderabad-based bizman of Rs 75,000 by ‘promising’ iPhones

Hyderabad: A fraudster posing as a customs official duped a businessman from Secunderabad of Rs 75,000 by falsely promising to sell him iPhones.Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) police registered a cheating case on Tuesday based on the victim's complaint.
According to police, the complainant, Gyam Alfred, 53, who ran a soft drink shop near Secunderabad railway station, was approached by the accused, who was in civilian clothes, at 9 am on Tuesday. "Posing as a Customs official, he promised to provide two iPhones and some gold items at low prices. Convinced by the promise, I agreed to buy iPhones for ₹1 lakh," the complainant told police.The accused later asked Alfred to meet him at RGIA at noon to receive the phones. "I met him at the departure terminal and initially paid ₹70,000 in cash. He demanded another ₹5,000, and I gave him the additional amount. After that, he asked me to wait there and left the place to bring the iPhones. However, he did not return," the victim said.After realising he had been cheated, Alfred approached the airport police, who registered a case under sections 316 (2) (Punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 318 (4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the BNS on Tuesday night."We are trying to identify the accused by verifying the CCTV footage at various places. The public is advised to remain vigilant and report such fraudsters to the nearest police authorities," RGIA Outpost inspector S Kanakaiah said.