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Kanpur couple held for duping 13K of Rs 190 cr, in police remand

MOHALI:The local police have arrested a couple for allegedly duping nearly 13,000 people to the tune of around Rs 190 crore on the pretext of investing their money in Bollywood movies, TV serials and other entertainment events.

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Tribune News Service

Mohali, November 13 

The local police have arrested a couple for allegedly duping nearly 13,000 people to the tune of around Rs 190 crore on the pretext of investing their money in Bollywood movies, TV serials and other entertainment events.

The accused have been identified as Manu Prashant Vig and his wife Pooja Chaudhary Wig, both natives of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

According to police, the couple had befooled a large number of people after they, along with some other persons, floated a company, Blue Fox Motion Pictures, at Delhi in 2016.  The victims, who are said to be nearly 13,000 in number, are mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. 

From Punjab alone, the accused have collected nearly Rs 115 crore and the victims from Haryana and other places lost about Rs 70 crore, said the police.

“During their preliminary interrogation, the accused revealed that they had also announced to having started making a movie titled ‘96 Hours’ starring a famous Bollywood actor. The accused had also organised some functions/seminars in which they had invited some celebrities to lure their victims,” said the police. 

The couple is said to have procured temporary residency of Georgia. 

Victims, including Vishal Kumar, Ramesh Kumar, Parwinder Bhatti and others, said many of them had gave the con couple more than Rs 10 lakh. 

Ramesh Kumar claimed that he had given Rs 2 lakh to the accused around a year and a half ago. “Then, they had promised to return Rs 5 lakh in 11 months but I did not get even a single penny so far,” he claimed.

On a victim’s complaint, a case was registered against Manu Prashant and three others at the Phase 11 police station on October 5. Inspector Gurpreet Singh, SHO, Phase 11 police station, today said the couple was arrested in a case registered under Sections 406, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC. 

“We produced the accused before a local court, which sent them to police remand till November 20,” said the SHO. 

He added that around 200 victims of the couple have already approached the police station. 

“Further investigations are on. The role of some other persons in the fraud is being scruitinised,” said Inspector Gurpreet Singh. 

Manu Prashant Vig, one of the accused, is an MBA while his wife is a commerce graduate, said the police. Manu’s was a business family and was running a petrol pump at Kanpur, said the police.


Modus operandi

The accused lured the victims by claiming that their money would be invested in Bollywood movies, TV serials and other entertainment events. The accused promised them share in profits so earned. The victims were assured that their invested money would double within 11 months. From Punjab alone, the accused collected nearly Rs 115 crore and the victims from Haryana and other places lost about Rs 70 crore to them.

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