Conman dupes industrialist of over Rs 34L

INDORE: An inter-state conman has become active in the area targeting industrialists especially copper merchants. He has duped three industrialists across Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh of an amount over Rs 34 lakh.
To conceal his identity, the conman keeps changing his name from Sumit Arora and Sumit Kumar to Manoj Gupta to name a few. He demands the raw material from industrialists in hurry and assures to make payment through demand draft as and when the material is delivered.In all four cases, either the demand draft was fake or he managed not to handover the DDs.
Surendra Jain of Triveni Conductors was duped of Rs 6 lakh. "No one could make out that the DD he provided was a fake one," Jain said while talking to TOI.
Jain said that he received a call from a new mobile number on July 30 and the caller said that he was in need of a tonne of copper. "We asked to complete the formality and he told that he had an office in Bhopal and that the next day a man will come with the demand draft and vehicle and return with the consignment. The man did arrive with a DD on the given time but it was only after we submitted the draft to the bank that we got to know it was a fake one."
He said that the accused was quite smart and handles the deals efficiently. "We have learned that the raw material is then moved towards northern parts of the country," Jain said.
Another victim, Kamlesh Agrawal, proprietor of Copper Palace of Indore, was duped of Rs 4.5 lakh. The modus operandi of the conman was the same in this case as well. The company has lodged a complaint with Chhotigwaltoli police.
Ratlam-based Navkar Wire was duped of two tonne copper wire worth Rs 11.33 lakh. Managing director of the company Mukesh Jain said that he had received an email making a total demand of six tonne copper wire of which two tonne consignment was to be delivered on an urgent basis. "After verifying the identity and striking a deal, we dispatched two tonne copper wire through a vehicle for Jalandhar and the man who received it handed over a DD of Rs 11.33 lakh. When the DD was submitted to the bank, it was found to be fake," he said.
Talking to ToI from Raipur over phone, director of Bhomia Copper, Sunil Kumar Jain said that he too had received a call on July 12 from a man who said he was in urgent need of the copper wires. He asked to deliver the wire immediately and the company despatched it to a destination in Himachal Pradesh but the man received it in Chandigarh itself and did not even hand over the DD thereby duping the company of over 2 tonne copper worth Rs 13 lakh.