Ola Electric scooter buyer in Delhi duped by conman of ₹80,000: Report
An Ola Electric scooter buyer based in Delhi was conned by a 25-year old person from Maharashtra. According to reports by news agency PTI, the conman was arrested for duping the EV buyer of more than ₹80,000. The buyer decided to go for a dealer he found online, instead of proper channels like the EV maker's official website or app. The accused, impersonating as one of the dealers, duped him on pretext of selling him an electric scooter.
The accused had first asked the victim to pay up ₹499 as booking amount of the electric scooter. Usually Ola Electric too asks for similar booking amount for its electric scooters. According to the police, the conman allegedly offered the victim a ‘favourable deal’ which prompted him to send booking amount to the accused.
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Later, the accused also charged the victim the actual price of the electric scooter. According to police, the victim was asked to pay ₹80,999 for the electric scooter with the promise that it will be delivered to him within a week. Ola Electric sell the S1 Air electric scooter at a price of ₹84,999, similar to the amount paid by the victim.
Besides the S1 Air, which is the most affordable model from the EV maker, Ola Electric also sells models like S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters in India. The S1 is priced from ₹one lakh (ex-showroom) while the S1 Pro is priced from ₹1.24 lakh (ex-showroom).
Also Read : Full guide on how to buy Ola Electric scooters online
The victim became suspicious of the dealer when he failed to share a receipt of the payment. Moreover, he demanded more money from the victim which led to suspicion of fraud. The victim later registered a complaint with the police. M Harsha Vardhan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka), said his team tracked down the bank account of the accused which was by the name of one Rajendra Shivram Panda. Once police found out his address, a raid was conducted in Dombiwali East in Thane, Maharashtra, and was arrested on Saturday.
According to police, the accused admitted that he used to design fake advertisement of electric scooters to dupe potential customers. He also took the name Raghav Verma to impersonate as a dealer. He also revealed his modus operandi in which he duped buyers by promising them quicker than usual delivery of their choice of electric scooters.
