Mumbai: 23-year-old held for duping holidayers

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The Mumbai police have arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly duping holidayers on the pretext of online booking of villas and bungalows, a police officer said on Wednesday.

Akash Wadhwani, a resident of Ghatkopar, was taken into custody from a hotel in Juhu on Monday. He would often stay put in luxury hotels to evade arrest, the officer said. He faces nearly 20 such cases, said the officer.

Wadhwani's arrest came on a complaint filed last week by an employee of a private firm located in BKC.

The complainant told the police that she was cheated of Rs 90,000 after she tried to make an online booking for a villa at Alibaug for a vacation.

According to the complainant, she came across a website ‘vistarastays.com' when she was searching online for villas and bungalows at Alibaug. After she contacted the website, the woman was asked to pay Rs 90,000 to book a villa, the officer said.

However, closer to the booking date, the person she was in touch with became unreachable, the officer said.

Sub-inspector Rajesh Garad from BKC police station said, "With the help of technical evidence, we nabbed Wadhwani from a hotel in Juhu. He had created a fake website and cheated many people. He has been named in nearly 20 such cases."

Wadhwani has been booked under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act, the official added.

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