Hyderabad, July 20 -- A case has been registered against multi-level marketing firm QNet, its franchisee Vihaan Direct Selling India Pvt Ltd and 11 individuals for allegedly duping a Bengaluru-based fitness professional in the name of direct selling, police said.

The Central Crime Station (CCS) registered the case based on a complaint by Sardar Sharanpal Singh, a fitness professional who was scouting for commercial space to set up a gym in Hyderabad or Bengaluru when he came in touch with Mohammed Fawaz, also a fitness professional based in Bengaluru, through social media, the police said.

According to the complaint, Singh later travelled to Bengaluru, where he met a person identified as Ashwin, who claimed to have quit a major firm and...