In a well-coordinated operation, the Gamdevi Police successfully apprehended two accused from West Bengal who had defrauded a Croma Store in Mumbai of Rs3.79 lakh. The arrested individuals have been identified as Shehnaz Taj and Zeeshan Sattar Siddiqui.
On November 7, the duo placed an order for high-end Apple products—including iPhones, smartwatches, and adapters—worth Rs3.79 lakh at the Croma Store near Breach Candy Hospital. They provided a delivery address and assured the store that payment would be made via cheque at the time of delivery. However, when the cheque was presented, it bounced, leaving the store with an incomplete payment.
The suspects, both natives of West Bengal, used this deceitful tactic to convince the store of the cheque’s credibility. Upon realizing the fraud, the police began an investigation to track down the perpetrators. The officers cleverly posed as potential customers interested in buying mobile phones and contacted the suspects to arrange a meeting for the transaction. When the location was set, the police arrested Zeeshan Sattar Siddiqui. After questioning him, Shehnaz Taj was also taken into custody.
Further investigation revealed that both suspects were highly educated. Shehnaz Taj holds an MBA, while Zeeshan Siddiqui has a BSc degree. Despite their education, the duo had been using their skills to carry out sophisticated frauds.
The police also discovered that Taj and Siddiqui are habitual offenders, with multiple similar frauds registered against them in different states. “They have committed similar offences at the Madgaon Police Station in Goa and Shakespeare Sarani Police Station in West Bengal,” said a senior police officer. Their strategy involved targeting high-end stores in various cities, ordering expensive products like phones or gold, and offering payment via cheque. The stores were misled into believing that payment was secured due to credit entries, only to find later that the cheques had bounced.
Catching the suspects in a new territory was a challenging task, but with vital assistance from Garden Reach Police Station in West Bengal, the Gamdevi Police were able to apprehend the fraudsters successfully.
The duo’s arrest has brought to light their wide-ranging fraudulent activities, and investigations are ongoing to uncover further details of their operation. Police are now examining any connections the duo might have to similar scams in other cities.