The Pune university lodged a complaint with the police in the first week of September that the institution was allegedly swindled for Rs 2.46 crore by an online fraudster who posed as a professor of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
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Pune police have arrested a Telangana-based electronics engineer, who holds a doctorate degree from a UK-based university, for an alleged online fraud with a private university of Rs 2.46 crore, officials said, reported news agency PTI.
The Pune university lodged a complaint with the police in the first week of September that the institution was allegedly swindled for Rs 2.46 crore by an online fraudster who posed as a professor of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, reported PTI.
The fraudster promised the Pune-based varsity officials that he would help them get a project from IIT Bombay, a police release said on Wednesday.
The alleged online fraud took place between July 25 and August 26 this year, wherein the fraudster, by posing as the professor of IITB, cheated the varsity by making them transfer Rs 2.46 crore into different accounts, it said, reported PTI.
A team of cyber crime police station initiated a probe into it and traced the suspect, identified as Seetaiah Kilaru (34), a resident of Yapral in Hyderabad, Telangana, the police said.
"He is a mastermind in the case and was arrested on September 21. The accused is an electronics & telecommunication engineer from Telangana and holds a PhD from a UK-based university. During the investigation, he told us that he had cleared UPSC's prelim and mains examination in 2019-20," a police official said, reported PTI.
After being arrested, Kilaru was produced before a court which remanded him to police custody till September 28.
Interior decorator in Thane duped of Rs 97 lakh in loan fraud
In another case, the police have registered a case against four persons for allegedly cheating an interior decorator of Rs 97.75 lakh under the pretext of arranging a business loan through CSR funds, officials said on Tuesday, reported PTI.
The accused lured the 45-year-old victim, living in the Badlapur area of Maharashtra's Thane district, by promising him a business loan of Rs 2.75 crore from funds under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), reported PTI.
Gaining his trust, the accused demanded that he deposit a bank guarantee amount. Believing their assurances, the victim paid them Rs 99.25 lakh, a Badlapur police official said.
Out of this, only Rs 1.5 lakh was later returned, while the remaining Rs 97.75 lakh was allegedly siphoned off without any loan being sanctioned, he said, reported PTI.
The victim approached the police with a complaint on Monday.
After preliminary enquiries, police registered a case against four persons under relevant legal provisions, and efforts were on to trace them, the official said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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