In a swift and well-coordinated operation, Panaji Town Police have cracked a cyber fraud case where a 37-year-old woman from Dona Paula was duped of Rs3.27 lakh under the pretext of a work-from-home hotel rating task. The accused, Rajjab Husain, son of Raju and resident of Kile Ki Ghati, Laykan Mohalla, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, was arrested following detailed technical surveillance and intelligence gathering.
According to the complaint filed by Mrs. Deepa, a resident of Peter Mansion, Sagar Society, Dona Paula, she was lured between May 29 and May 30, 2025, by unknown persons using WhatsApp number 8127017313. The scammers promised earnings through online hotel rating tasks and instructed her to download Telegram and join a specific group. Subsequently, she was coerced into making multiple payments via GPay and NEFT from her SBI account to several unknown accounts, resulting in a loss of Rs3,27,300.
The complaint, lodged on June 5, 2025, at 19:35 hrs, led to the registration of FIR No. 85/2025 under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act, 2023, and Section 66-D of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008.
Following the investigation led by PI Shri Vijaykumar Chodankar, PSI Saheen Shetye, and police constables Prathamesh Malik, Gautam Matkar, Aditya Mardolkar, and Amol Hattekar, the accused was traced and arrested in Rajasthan. He has been remanded to seven days police custody for further investigation.
The operation was supervised by Shri Sudesh R. Naik, SDPO Panaji, and Rahul Gupta, IPS, SP North.
The police have issued warnings urging the public to remain cautious about online job offers demanding upfront payments and to report any suspicious activity promptly.
