Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: In a swift and well-coordinated operation, Panaji Town Police have cracked a cyber fraud case in which a 37-year-old woman from Dona Paula was duped of ₹3.27 lakh under the pretext of a work-from-home hotel rating task. The accused, identified as Rajjab Husain, son of Raju and a resident of Kile Ki Ghati, Laykan Mohalla, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, was arrested following technical surveillance and intelligence gathering by the Panaji Police team.
According to the complaint lodged by Mrs. Deepa d/o Shashikant Yogi, a resident of Peter Mansion, Sagar Society, Dona Paula, she was lured between May 29 and May 30, 2025, by unknown persons using WhatsApp number 8127017313. The scammers offered her an opportunity to earn money by completing online hotel rating tasks. She was then asked to download the Telegram app, join a specific group, and subsequently instructed to make multiple payments via GPay and NEFT from her SBI account to several unknown accounts. Over multiple transactions, she ended up losing a total of ₹3,27,300.
Based on her complaint filed on June 5, 2025 at 19:35 hrs, Panaji Police registered an FIR under Crime No. 85/2025 invoking Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act, 2023, and Section 66-D of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008.
Following detailed investigation and mobile surveillance, the police team successfully tracked and apprehended the accused in Rajasthan. He has since been remanded to seven days of police custody by the Hon’ble Court for further investigation.
The operation was led by PI Shri Vijaykumar Chodankar, along with PSI Saheen Shetye, and police constables Prathamesh Malik (PC-8906), Gautam Matkar (PC-9626), Aditya Mardolkar (PC-7816), and Amol Hattekar (PC-7660). The investigation was carried out under the overall supervision of Shri Sudesh R. Naik, SDPO Panaji, and Rahul Gupta, IPS, SP North.
Police have cautioned the public against falling for online job offers that demand upfront payments and have urged people to report such scams promptly.
