Fake army major dupes woman auditor of Rs 22.06 lakh with marriage promise
A Nagpur woman auditor was allegedly cheated of over Rs 22 lakh by a man posing as an army major who promised to marry her
A senior woman auditor at the office of the Principal Accountant General in Nagpur was allegedly cheated of nearly Rs 22 lakh by a man who promised to marry her. According to police, the accused contacted the woman on a defence matrimony website posing as an Indian Army major, and after gaining her trust, asked her for money to start a transport business.
The case is from the area under Beltarodi police station. Police said the accused stopped talking to the woman after receiving the money.
Police said Neha Shashi Singh, 41, a resident of Narendra Nagar, works as a senior auditor in the Audit-2 office of the Principal Accountant General. She had divorced in 2018 and created a profile on a defence matrimony website in July 2022 while looking for a life partner.
During this period, she came in contact with Mandeep Sunil Sharma, 32, a resident of Hatwar village in Ghumarwin tehsil of Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh. Sharma had described himself as an army major on his matrimony profile. During their conversations, he told Singh he was posted with the Rashtriya Rifles in Jammu and Kashmir. Police said he also sent her photos and videos of himself in army uniform, which further strengthened her trust in him.
As the two grew closer, Sharma told Singh he would marry her soon and assured her the wedding would take place in February 2023. He then told her he was planning to leave the army and start a transport business, for which he needed financial help.
Trusting his promise of marriage and his words, Singh decided to give him money. She took a loan from her office society and a bank, and transferred a total of Rs 22,06,200 in instalments through net banking and PhonePe to the bank accounts of Sharma and his cousin.
After receiving the money, Sharma's behaviour changed and he began avoiding conversations with Singh. When she asked for the money back, he returned only Rs 50,000 and later stopped responding to her calls.
When repeated attempts to contact him went unanswered, Singh realised she had been cheated and filed a complaint at Beltarodi police station.
Based on the complaint, Beltarodi police have registered a case against Sharma under Sections 170, 406 and 420 of the IPC. Police are now investigating whether the accused was actually in the army, how accurate the information on his matrimony profile was, and where the money he received from the woman was used.
