Mumbai: A 79-year-old retired Indian Navy officer from Santacruz (West) fell victim to a scam, and lost Rs1.6 lakh of his pension money while attempting to arrange a helicopter to travel with his wife, a medical practitioner, from Mumbai to Kedarnath and Badrinath. Santacruz police registered a case against an unknown person on Friday, and are tracking down internet protocol (IP) address to locate accused.
The incident occurred between March 20 and 26, when the elderly man spotted an Instagram advertisement by Vikram Singh, operating under the name Pawan Hans Official Limited. In the complaint, the ex-Navy personnel said: “Vikram said the tour would cost Rs 64,000..”
The next day, Singh asked him to transfer another Rs 95,992 towards travel insurance. “I transferred the money, but got suspicious when my queries about the trip were met with ambiguous responses,” he said. — V Narayan