Panchkula, Aug. 21 -- A 71-year-old retired colonel of the Indian Army was duped of over Rs.48 lakh by cyber fraudsters in a stock-trading scam.

The retired colonel, who resides in Sector 27, Panchkula, told police that in July this year, he was added to a WhatsApp group 'K-21 Future Investor Forum' without his consent or knowledge. He discovered the group a week later and found that it had 132 members and three administrators: Anjali Mehta, Reliance Capital, and Shreedhar Rangarajan, who routinely shared stock market investment plans.

On August 1, the complainant messaged Mehta to inquire about the plans. She assured him that their company was registered and that he could earn significant profits by investing.

The fraudsters then pers...