NEW DELHI, May 15 -- Delhi Police has arrested a 38-year-old man from Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag for allegedly duping a Delhi-based man of more than Rs 5 lakh on the pretext of supplying Kashmiri apple consignments, an official said on Friday.
The accused, identified as Istaq Ahmedar (38), was on the run for nearly a decade, continuously changing locations and mobile numbers to evade arrest, police said.
The matter came to light in 2016 when a case was registered at the Mahendra Park police station under IPC sections 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy), alleging that Ahmedar and his associate induced the victim into a fraudulent business deal related to apple consignments. "The accused allegedly collected Rs 5,08,700 from the complainant on different dates after assuring him that apple consignments would be supplied. However, neither the consignments were delivered nor was the money returned," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said.
During the investigation, the accused absconded, prompting authorities to announce a cash reward of Rs 50,000 for information leading to his arrest. "The task of tracing Ahmedar was assigned to the crime branch due to the complexity and sensitivity of the case," the officer said.
Ahmedar was apprehended from Anantnag's Fruit and Vegetable Market on May 13 following sustained technical surveillance and source-based inputs. During interrogation, he admitted to severing contact with the complainant after payment disputes and frequently changing SIM cards and residences to evade arrest,
police said.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.