Kulu Manali

By Amit KumarA chance encounter inwith the driver of their tourist vehicle proved costly for a 27-year-old married woman in the city. Two years after the holiday, the driver of the tourist vehicle, along with his brother, duped her and fled with Rs 40 lakh and 450 grams of gold ornaments. The mother of a six-year-old child had kept in touch with the driver and he had convinced her to hand over these valuables from her father’s residence to him.Police suspect that the woman was conned as part of an elaborate plan. A couple of days before she went missing, the driver had contacted her and feigned a medical emergency.The driver had asked her to come to Khanna district near Ludhiana in Punjab. On reaching there, she was assured that her money would be kept safe, but soon the driver along with his brother, took her cash and jewels and deserted her.Police are yet to locate the accused despite sending a team to Punjab along with the woman’s father.According to the Hennur police, Roshini (name changed), a resident of Hennur had gone on a holiday to Shimla in 2017 with her husband and family members. She became acquainted with Kamaldeep, the driver of their tourist vehicle. Roshini’s husband, according to police, is unemployed but her father is into real estate and property development. Kamaldeep and Roshini exchanged numbers and had been in touch since, she said in her complaint. On January 5, Kamaldeep reportedly called up Roshini and said that his mother was unwell and had to undergo a surgical procedure to save her life. He also exerted pressure on her by citing that he was in dire financial crisis and told her that if she comes to him with the case of money and ornaments, he would take care of her.“Based on Kamaldeep’s assurance, she took Rs 40 lakh and ornaments from her father’s residence and left the city on January 6,” said a police official involved in the probe.After reaching Khanna district, Roshini met with Kamaldeep and was introduced to his elder brother Dharamveer. She was taken to a house which Kamaldeep claimed belonged to Dharamveer and was told to handover the valuables which they said they would keep safe in their uncle’s house. The duo accepted the money and left the spot.“After they failed to return, Roshini tried contacting Kamaldeep but his phone was switched off and she couldn't trace him,” said the Hennur police.Meanwhile Roshini’s father filed a missing complaint at Hennur police station on January 6. In his complaint, he stated that he woke up at 9 am on January 6 and found his daughter missing. When he asked his son-in-law about his daughter’s whereabouts, he told him that she had woken up at 4 am. Later he found that over Rs 40 lakh that was kept in his residence was also missing. Police said that Roshini had kept the money and valuables in a bag and had gone to Punjab by road.A team of policemen from Hennur, along with her father, was sent to Punjab to apprehend them. Though they managed to locate the residence where the duo had left her, they were not able to nab Kamaldeep and Dharamveer. They brought her back to the city last weekend and on January 17, a cheating case under section 420 of the IPC was registered against Kamaldeep and Dharamveer. Police said that they are investigating the case and are yet to locate the brothers.