An 18-year-old Lucknow-based engineering student suffering from diabetes was allegedly duped of Rs 4.2 lakhs by cyber thugs running a fake website in the name of Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Yogpeeth that offered a 15-day Ayurvedic treatment package at its ashram in Haridwar.
The victim, Rajat Giri of Telibagh, has lodged an FIR on charges of criminal breach of trust, cheating and dishonesty.
Giri told reporters that he was diagnosed with diabetes a few months ago and visited several doctors.
However, when he did not get the desired relief, somebody suggested Ayurveda treatment.
He then randomly searched the internet and came across a website.
"I called on the given numbers. The recipient gave several offers and I picked a 15-day package costing Rs 75,000 that provided stay in a fully furnished cottage and made the payment on July 10. I got a digital receipt confirming the booking from August 5-20. The document appeared genuine as it had photographs of Baba Ramdev and his associate Bal Krishna," he said.
However, on July 13, he got another call asking to pay for full body check-up and health insurance as well. He then paid a total Rs 4.3 lakhs in several instalments till July 20.
A couple of days later, he got another call from a representative who said that the transaction of the first instalment has failed due to some technical reason and asked him to make the payment again, promising that the previous one will be refunded soon.
"I told them that I will make the payment only after getting the refund, but it never arrived. I kept calling the representatives till September 19 and since then their phones are switched off. I then called the customer care at Patanjali Yogpeeth and came to know that the website was fake," he added.
