He is not an ordinary person. He is the son of Manoj Verma, the recently former Commissioner of Kolkata Police and currently the State Director of Security. Cyber fraudsters duped the former Kolkata CP’s son and siphoned off ₹30,000.
According to police sources, Manoj Verma’s son, Piyush, had reached out to an online platform while searching for a paying guest accommodation in Delhi, during which he was allegedly duped.
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Although the incident occurred in Delhi, he lodged a complaint with the cyber wing at Lalbazar on February 2 after returning to Kolkata.
Accused remanded to police custody
Acting on the complaint, police began an investigation. Following the online transaction trail, a young man named Rakesh Pradhan was arrested from Odisha on February 4. He has been in police custody since then. On Wednesday, when the accused was produced before the Bankshall Court, the judge again ordered six days of police custody.
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In court, the defence lawyer questioned the jurisdiction, saying, “The incident occurred in Delhi. But the complaint has been filed in Kolkata. As per the rules, shouldn’t the complaint have been filed in Delhi?” However, police claimed that the victim filed the complaint where he felt appropriate. Besides, he came to know about the fraud after returning to Kolkata. Evidence of money transactions has also been found in the accused’s bank account.
The defence further claimed that two Delhi-based individuals, named Sanjay and Akshay, misled Rakesh and used his bank account. However, after hearing the arguments, the judge rejected the bail plea and ordered that the accused remain in police custody until February 17.
