Befriending and taking a stranger home proved costly for a software engineer — he ended up losing Rs 7.2 lakh after the stranger stole his SIM card, siphoned off money and spent a huge amount shopping online.
Ravi Kumar (*name changed), a resident of an apartment in ChikkaRavianahalli in southeast Bengaluru, has filed a complaint with the Bellandur police station against a stranger, who had introduced himself as Tushar alias Dito Sarkar.
Ravi had been to an MRP liquor outlet in Bhoganahalli Road on January 15. Around 7.30 pm, he met Tushar at the outlet, who introduced himself as a first-timer to the city. Tushar told Ravi he doesn’t know anyone in the city.
Ravi invited Tushar to stay over at his place, if he wanted to. Ravi took him to his house and the duo partied and slept off.
The following day, Ravi woke up to find Tushar had left his house and realised his SIM card was missing from his mobile phone. Later, Ravi got a message that Rs 1.64 lakh was transferred out of his account.
He immediately blocked the SIM card and his bank account, as well. However, from January 16 to 27, Ravi received multiple messages that his account was used for shopping from major e-commerce firms, and for gift card and travel applications.
In all, around 7.2 lakh was siphoned off from his account.
Bellandur police have taken up a case of cheating.