Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi

Udupi, May 25: Two separate cheating cases involving financial frauds running into lacs of rupees have been reported in Udupi, with police registering cases at the Udupi City Police Station following court-directed complaints.

In the first case, a man was allegedly cheated of Rs 15.81 lac in the name of a lucrative import-export business involving dates and household goods from Qatar.
The victim has been identified as Ifraan Aziz (50), a resident of Badagubettu village. Based on his complaint, Udupi City police station has registered a case against three accused, including his son-in-law Mohammed Sharpuddin, who was working in Qatar.

According to the complaint, Sharpuddin allegedly first approached his father-in-law in October 2023, during a visit to Udupi, and convinced him that importing dates and household items from Qatar to India would yield high profits.

Initially, the complainant did not invest due to financial constraints. However, in December 2024, the accused allegedly contacted him again from Qatar and claimed that he had already started a small-scale import business in India with two partners based in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

He further allegedly assured that goods worth around Rs 15 lac had already been dispatched to the partners, and that payment would ensure delivery of the consignment to Udupi within days.

Believing the assurances, the victim transferred Rs 1,44,000 on January 13, 2025, and Rs 14,37,000 on January 15, 2025, totalling Rs 15,81,000, into the bank accounts of the alleged partners.

However, no goods were delivered, and all phone numbers later became unreachable. Realising he had been cheated, the victim approached the court and filed a private complaint, following which a case was registered under Crime No. 66/2026 under Sections 318(4), 316(2) read with 3(2) of the BNS.

In a separate case, another resident of Udupi was allegedly cheated of Rs 6.23 lac after being promised a job and visa assistance in the United Kingdom.

The victim, N R Padmanabha Upadhya of Nittur, was allegedly approached by A Cornelio, who promised him a housekeeping supervisor job in the UK and assured visa arrangements.

Cornelio then allegedly introduced him to his assistant Savita, who demanded Rs 2 lac as visa processing fees, which was transferred on March 19.

Subsequently, three more accused allegedly collected additional money in stages under the pretext of medical examinations, visa stamping, and embassy processing charges, eventually taking a total of Rs 6.23 lac along with the victim’s passport.

Later, the accused allegedly informed him that the visa had been rejected and promised to return both the money and passport. However, they later switched off their phones and cut off all contact.

Following a court-directed private complaint, Udupi city police have registered another case (Crime No. 67/2026) under Sections 316(2) and 318 of the BNS.