New Delhi, May 13 -- The Cyber Cell of the Delhi Police has arrested a man for allegedly running a visa and overseas job fraud racket and cheating a Delhi resident of Rs 9.25 lakh, officials said on Wednesday.

The accused, identified as Anup Dharmole (37), a resident of Jategaon village in Ahilya Nagar district of Maharashtra, was arrested from a hotel in Panvel following a multi-state investigation.

Police said the fraud came to light after a complaint was lodged at the Cyber Police Station in North-West Delhi by Vijay Narang, a resident of Shalimar Bagh.

According to investigators, Narang had applied for an overseas job through Naukri.com, following which he was contacted on WhatsApp by a person posing as a visa consultant. The accused allegedly extracted Rs 9.25 lakh from the complainant on the pretext of visa processing, clearances and overseas placement formalities.

An e-FIR was registered on March 24 under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. During the investigation, police traced suspicious financial transactions and call records to Mumbai. Officials found that the accused had allegedly been living in hotels under fake identities and operating the fraud network using pseudonyms to evade detection.

Police said Dharmole used the fake identity "Praveen Sudhakar Deshmukh" while moving between hotels.

Investigators further found that he allegedly transferred the cheated money into bank accounts belonging to managers of various clubs in Mumbai. He would reportedly befriend club employees, avail services on credit, and transfer excess amounts into their accounts, which were later used to cover his expenses.

A police team led by Inspector Dinesh Dahiya carried out technical surveillance and conducted multiple raids before arresting the accused. Three mobile phones and a laptop allegedly used in the crime were recovered from his possession.

Police said two more potential victims from Maharashtra and Haryana were identified and rescued after officers discovered that the accused was allegedly attempting to cheat them through fake overseas job offers.

Dharmole had previously been involved in three cheating cases registered in Maharashtra and Uttarakhand, police added.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.