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Time of India
11 hours ago
- Time of India
Cybercrooks cheat US-based techie in digital arrest threat con
Pune: A man (45) who works as a software engineer in a USA-based firm was cheated out of Rs 4.5lakh after cybercrooks threatened him of a money laundering case and subsequent arrest. The man's father (70) from Amrawati lodged a complaint with the Koregaon Park police on Friday. He had earlier lodged a complaint with the Amrawati police and the Amrawati police transferred the FIR to the Koregaon Park police for further investigation. Senior inspector Sunil Thopte of Koregaon Park police told TOI, "The case was transferred to KP police as the USA-based techie's bank account is with a private bank in Koregaon Park." You Can Also Check: Pune AQI | Weather in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune | Gold Rates Today in Pune | Silver Rates Today in Pune Thopte said, "The suspects made calls to the techie, posing as officials of the Indian Embassy in the USA and the Mumbai cybercrime police. They claimed that his Aadhaar Card and SIM card were used to open a bank account, which was used in a money laundering case," Thopte said, adding, "They threatened the techie that they would deport him to India and arrest him in the money laundering case." "They also claimed that the suspects involved in the money laundering case had tapped his phone," he said. "The suspects then promised to settle the matter and asked for money from the techie. The techie transferred the money using e-banking facilities," he said. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
Time of India
17-07-2025
- Time of India
‘Black magician' cons woman with promise of hidden treasure
Pune: Koregaon Park police arrested Khanbaba, alias Madari Mohammed Khan, for performing black magic and cheating a 42-year-old woman from Kothrud of Rs 2.6 lakh on the pretext of helping her find a hidden treasure that would improve her financial condition. Senior inspector Sunil Thopte of Koregaon Park police said, "The cheating occurred between June 12 and 15 this year. Khanbaba, a 65-year-old resident of Koregaon Park, promised to perform special prayers to help her obtain a 'hidden treasure'—a pot full of gold and other valuables—after the woman approached him seeking his help to improve her financial condition." Thopte said, "After taking the money and performing some rituals, he gave her a pot wrapped in black cloth and instructed her to open it on the 17th day at 11.21pm. When the woman opened the pot at the given time, she found only mud inside. Realising that she had been defrauded, she contacted Khanbaba." You Can Also Check: Pune AQI | Weather in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune "When the woman confronted him, he demanded more money and threatened to turn her into a goat using his supernatural powers if she failed to comply," Thopte said. "The woman, a mother of two, was facing financial difficulties, and came in contact with Khanbaba through a common friend," Thopte added. "Khanbaba continued to issue threats and harass her," he said. "After the woman spoke to him on the phone, Khanbaba called her to his place on Wednesday evening. However, we had already set up a trap near his home and arrested him when the woman went to meet him," Thopte said. Khanbaba was arrested under sections related to cheating and Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act. He was produced before a city court, which remanded him in police custody till July 19.
Time of India
15-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Firm defrauds investors of Rs 10.4 crore
Pune: A retired Colonel (48) and five others were defrauded of Rs 10.4 crore by an investment firm that promised high returns on investment between April 2024 and May this year. The firm operated from Koregaon Park. The retired Army officer, a resident of BT Kawade Road, lodged a complaint with the Koregaon Park police on Saturday. The case was transferred to Pune police's economic offences wing (EOW) for further investigation. Senior inspector Sunil Thopte of the Koregaon Park police told TOI, "The victims approached us after the prime suspect in the case locked his offices located in Wakad and Koregaon Park. The suspect is on the run while his sons and wife are staying in Koregaon Park. All the office bearers are residents of Koregaon Park and Dhanori." Thopte said, "The complainant was introduced to the suspect by one of his relatives. The suspect enticed the complainant and his friends with promises of a 30% return on investment. He claimed that he invested the money collected from investors in shares and earned a good profit." The officer said, "After winning the trust of the victims, the suspect accepted investments worth Rs 4.4 crore and also gave them receipts of his firm." Preliminary investigations by the police revealed that four to five individuals, who are yet to approach the police, have already been cheated by the suspect, and the scope of the fraud is likely to expand.
India Today
07-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
How Maharashtra BJP chief's call to empty out Congress caused a flutter
The BJP's Maharashtra president and state revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule has called on party leaders and cadre to engineer defections in the Congress, causing a flutter in political circles. '[Ensure that] the Congress is emptied out. You will gain to the extent the Congress party declines,' Bawankule said while pointing to the recent defection of former MLA and legacy Congress leader Sangram Thopte to the BJP. Bawankule, who was speaking at a meeting of party functionaries in Pune, however, assuaged BJP loyalists that they would be given precedence over newer entrants. Bawankule's statement drew flak from the Opposition. Harshwardhan Vasantrao Sapkal, president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, likened the BJP to a 'witch that ate up Congress leaders and workers'. He said the BJP's moves indicated the party was not confident of coming to power in the state on its own. The Congress has 16 MLAs in Maharashtra. Sapkal said a significant part of the state cabinet was made up of leaders who had earlier been with the Congress. Some prominent ex-Congress figures in the Maharashtra cabinet include Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Nitesh Rane, Jaykumar Gore and Manikrao Kokate. The BJP has also managed to get former chief minister Ashok Chavan on board. Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) spokesperson Sanjay Raut alleged the BJP was using power and money to break parties. He mocked that the present-day BJP was largely made up of defectors. Supriya Sule, Lok Sabha MP from the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), charged that central enforcement agencies, such as the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation, were being used to split BJP rivals. 'This is not lokshahi (democracy) but dadapshahi (a reign by suppression),' she said. However, in his defence, Bawankule said the leadership of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SCP) lacked the ability to grow their parties. 'They can't handle their parties,' he said. At the time of joining the BJP, Thopte, a three-term MLA and a 'hardcore Congressman' by his own admission, had claimed that the Congress had given a short shift to his loyalty and ignored him in ministerial appointments. Thopte and his father Anantrao, a former minister, have represented the Bhor assembly constituency in Pune from 1980 to 1999 and 2004 to 2024. Causing more flutter in the Congress, the BJP has made overtures to another legacy Congress leader—independent Lok Sabha MP Vishal Patil, the grandson of former chief minister and Congress veteran Vasantdada Patil. In the seat-sharing agreement within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) for the general elections last year, the Sangli constituency was allotted to the Shiv Sena (UBT). Vishal Patil contested the seat as an Independent and won by defeating the BJP's two-term MP Sanjaykaka Patil and the Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Chandrahar Patil. It is also being claimed that Chandrahar Patil, a renowned wrestler, may be on his way to the rival Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. Subscribe to India Today Magazine
India Today
28-04-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Two defections in weeks, why it's setback season for Congress in Maharashtra
The Congress in Maharashtra has suffered a setback in one of its erstwhile strongholds, with former MLA Sangram Thopte quitting the party to join the BJP. Thopte's defection goes much beyond usual party-hopping in that he is seen as a legacy Congressman with a strong base in rural shift comes within weeks of former Congress MLA Ravindra Dhangekar joining the Shiv Sena led by deputy chief minister Eknath the record, Thopte, a three-term MLA and a 'hardcore Congressman' in his own words, has claimed that the Congress gave short shift to his loyalty and ignored him when it came to ministerial has also lauded the leadership of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Recently, a loan guarantee extended by the state government to the Rajgad cooperative sugar mill, controlled by the Thoptes, was withdrawn by the Fadnavis-led Mahayuti regime. Congress leaders point to how Thopte was the party's choice for the legislative assembly speaker's post during the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime but that then governor B.S. Koshyari had not allowed elections for the post to be Congress had three MLAs from Pune city and district in the outgoing legislative assembly, but it drew a blank in the region in the assembly polls last year. Of the three MLAs, Thopte and Dhangekar have switched sides, leaving just Sanjay Jagtap, who was elected from Purandar, with the more flutter in the Congress, the BJP has made overtures to another legacy Congress leader—independent Lok Sabha MP Vishal Patil, the grandson of former chief minister and Congress veteran Vasantdada Patil. In the seat-sharing agreement within the MVA for the general elections last year, the Sangli constituency was allotted to the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). Vishal Patil contested the seat as an Independent and won by defeating the BJP's two-term MP Sanjaykaka Patil.A former Congress MLA from Pune and a former Congress minister who joined the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) are also reported to be on way to the and his father Anantrao, a former minister, have represented the Bhor assembly constituency in 1980-99 and 2004-24. Thopte, a former education minister, had faced a shock defeat at the hands of Kashinath Khutwad of the newly-formed Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). In 2004, Anantrao reclaimed the seat. In 2009, he sat out in favour of his son, who also retained the seat in 2014 and 2019. However, in the state polls in 2024, Thopte faced an unexpected defeat at the hands of Shankar Mandekar of the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar.A wrestler, Mandekar was with the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and later joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Mandekar was brought into the NCP and nominated from the seat. Ajit Pawar was said to be eager to ensure Thopte's defeat considering his role in the victory of his cousin Supriya Sule of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and the defeat of his wife Sunetra Pawar from the Baramati Lok Sabha seat last entry into the BJP will strengthen the party in a constituency where it has traditionally been on the weaker side. In the next assembly polls in 2029, the BJP aims to come to power on its own merit. Interestingly, Anantrao was always seen as an opponent of NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar when the two were in the Congress. The BJP has traditionally banked on its opposition to Pawar Senior to grow in Maharashtra. Anantrao was also seen a chief minister probable in the the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign, Sharad Pawar had visited Thopte at his residence in Pune, and the latter had backed Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule from the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, of which Bhor assembly segment is a part. Bhor, which is located on the fringes of Pune city, is also being urbanised gradually. It is seeing the emergence of the urban, cosmopolitan and pro-BJP voter. The constituency also has a strong tribal to India Today MagazineMust Watch
