Pune, Oct 11: An unknown person posing as an official of the Election Commission of India (ECI) defrauded a 78-year-old Pune resident of Rs 8 lakh, officials said on Sunday.

The victim, Jitendra Kumar Ahuja, is a resident of Pune’s Ghorpadi. He was cheated of Rs 8,00,015.34. A case was registered at the Mundhwa police station on October 10.

According to the police, the accused gained Ahuja’s trust by posing as an ECI official. He told Ahuja that his documents did not match. He then sent Ahuja a link and asked him to fill in his information.

It is alleged that the accused gained access to Ahuja’s mobile phone through the link and defrauded him of over Rs 8 lakh. This incident occurred between October 1 and 3.

The police have registered a case against the unidentified accused under sections 319(2), 318(4), 3(5) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act.

This is the second such case that came to light on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, the police said that a person posing as an official of the Election Commission of India (ECI) cheated an 80-year-old man of Rs five lakh online under the guise of updating his voter card in Pune.

A case regarding this incident has been registered at the Lakshminagar Police Station in Pune.

According to the police, the complainant, Kanjasheri Vaidyanathan Venkatesan (80), is a retired employee of an automotive manufacturing company, residing in the Yerwada area of ​​Pune. The accused called him, claiming to be from the ECI’s office, and stated that he needed to update his voter card.

Subsequently, the accused instructed him to download an APK file. After the file was downloaded, the accused gained access to the victim’s mobile screen, compromised his banking passwords, and fraudulently siphoned off Rs. 5 lakh.

A case has been registered at the Lakshminagar Police Station under Sections 308, 318(4), and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as well as Sections 66(D) and 66(C) of the IT Act.

The full name and address of the accused have not yet been ascertained.

Investigations into both cases are currently underway, and further details are awaited, officials said.

New Delhi, Oct 11: A total of 590 kg of illegal firecrackers worth Rs 50 lakh were seized from a shop in the Jama Masjid area and two people arrested, officials said on Sunday.

Ahead of the festive season, the Vigilance branch of Central District was directed to conduct surprise raids in market areas to curb the illegal storage and sale of firecrackers. In compliance with this, inputs were collected, and secret informers were activated.

Following this, specific information was received regarding the illegal storage of firecrackers for sale during the festive season at a Jama Masjid shop, at 1110, named SS & Sons Ram Dass Janki Dass in Bazar Guliyan.

Acting upon the information, Sub-Inspectors Parmendra Kumar and Narender, Assistant Sub-Inspector Bijender, Head Constable Sunny, and Constables Gurcharan and Ct. Rajesh conducted a surprise raid on the shop and found that a signboard was covered with a white plastic sack to conceal its identity.

The officials further informed that initially the shop appeared vacant, with only wooden and glass showcases inside. During a thorough inspection of the wooden ceiling, the police team noticed a marked wooden panel measuring approximately 4 × 4 feet. On examination, the panel was found to have a sliding mechanism concealing a large storage space above the shop.

The team searched the concealed storage area and discovered a large quantity of firecrackers stored illegally. Upon weighing, the total quantity was found to be approximately 590 kg, with an estimated market value of Rs 50 lakh.

Along with the illegal firecrackers, the team also apprehended two persons, Janki Dass and Abheek Dass, from the location. Both the accused, who are residents of Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar, were handed over to the local Jama Masjid police for further investigation.

An FIR No. 534/2026 under Sections 288/223(b) of the BNSS and Sections 5/9(B) of the Explosives Act, 1884, was registered at PS Jama Masjid, and further investigation was taken up by the local police.

During questioning, both apprehended persons admitted their involvement in the present case and disclosed that the firecrackers had been supplied by another person, the official statement read.

Visakhapatnam, Oct 11: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized foreign-origin gold worth Rs 8.98 crore near Visakhapatnam and arrested two persons.

The gold weighing over 5.8 kg was seized from a car after a high-speed chase near Visakhapatnam, the agency said on Sunday.

The gold hidden under the car seat was being transported from Kolkata to Hyderabad.

According to the DRI, it seized 5,832.90 grams of gold worth Rs 8.98 crore in the market from a car travelling from Kolkata to Hyderabad, following a chase and search on the night of October 8-9.

Acting on specific intelligence, DRI officials maintained heightened vigilance along the National Highway. They intercepted the car carrying two passengers after a prolonged chase.

After sustained questioning and a systematic search of the vehicle, officials detected a specially fabricated cavity beneath the leg space of the front co-passenger seat. They recovered three packets containing 5,832.90 grams of 24-carat gold of 999 purity from the concealed compartment.

According to the officials, the gold had been smuggled into India through the India-Bangladesh border and was being transported to Hyderabad.

Officials seized the recovered gold under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. They arrested and produced both passengers before the jurisdictional magistrate, who remanded them to judicial custody.

The DRI said in another press release on Sunday that it intensified its crackdown on cross-border gold smuggling from Bangladesh, seizing around 7.8 kg of foreign-origin gold valued at more than Rs 11.50 crore in intelligence-led operations conducted on October 8-9 in the eastern region.

The operations exposed the use of road and railway networks to transport smuggled gold from border areas towards Kolkata, resulting in the arrest of six persons, the DRI said.

The officials seized 50 gold bars, weighing around 6.8 kg and valued at approximately Rs 10 crore, from a four-wheeler at Dankuni Toll Plaza. The vehicle, carrying four persons, was travelling from Banpur, near the Bangladesh border, towards Kolkata.

On the same day, DRI teams in West Bengal intercepted passengers on trains at two railway stations, i.e., Malda Town Railway Station and New Jalpaiguri Railway Station and seized around 1 kg of foreign-origin gold, valued at around Rs 1.5 crore, from their possession.