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Prashant (none)     22 June 2012

Fooled by police, tricky case

Hi.

     Let me start straight to the point. I bought a mobile from Ebay.com from a very reputed seller, a clean guy with good seller's hostry . after a few days of recieving, he didn't send the bill/warranty etc., and when I asked to send it , he didn't bother to even write back to me.I ignored as I had copies of my correspondence with him, his bank acoc*nt no. and my trasaction copy where I had deposited the money + I had the shipping consignment no. that got me the phone at my address.

      In a few days, the seller wrote back to me that he wanted to take the phone back . He also suggested that I could get into trouble.  I didn't bother to return it to him as my experience with this fellow wasn't  good enough+ I didn't even take it seriously.

     In a few days, i got a call from Crime branch, Police that i was using a stolen phone which was one of the things stolen in a big time burglary   in a house. Coincidentally, they mentioned that the burglary was near to my other house in delhi where I stayed a few years back. The called me to report to the crime branch the next day with the phone and I left immediately. I went to delhi for this. I didn't bother to even inform my parents ( my father being a Top shot in delhi). Police had also told me to  not contact or speak to the phone seller anythng about this.

    After going there to police and showing them my correspondence etc and other proofs of my purchase with the seller, the cops didn't  bother to even call him up. when they felt they was uneasy at the police station, they started pressurising me more saying that since the phone was in use with me, I was the culprit and they could lock me up. My fault that I had not even taken a lawyer along.

   They also immediately took the phone from  me and then erased all my data from it.

- Now they didn't bother to show me any FIR that the phone was actually stolen.

- When i asked them to call the complainant  or give me his details and let me meet him, they refused.

- When I was giving them the charger, they said the charger wasn't needed, only the phone.

-Three of them were pressuring me and I was alone  , so my mind had stopped working by then. When I asked them to give me an official reciept that they are taking the phone  from me, they again started ' Taallamtol'  that if they give me an deposit challan, then they would also need to lock me up as the phone was found with me. But I insisted on a proof that I was handing over the phone to them. They started delaying it, mutual discussion and everything and finally,I had to tell them Who my father is and how I could have simply sent a guy from any Ministry to solve it all if I had not decided to handle this game alone. Though I wasn't keen to disturb my dad.

      after learning this, they asked me to write a note that i was depositing this phone here and asked me to write ref, to an FIR no. which they had not even shown me. By that time, they knew I was tense and tired and just wanted to leave. Then they made a photocopy of it and gave it to me, but unstamped and unsigned. When I asked for a stamp, , they said  because the Fir no. was there, this was a vlalid proof. I wasn't convinced,  but still I Left. They dropped me to Metro station in a car and again told me not to contact the phone seller about this. They also asked me if  was going to tell my dad but I said i wasn't sure. They offered me two cups of Tea in the prcess which I was glad to accept, and then they gave me a water bottle for the way back home.

   On the way back, i analysed the entire situation and realised that I had been fooled by them. Here my reasons,

   - when they had contacted me first, they said that I could just send the phone woth any cousin, mama, brother, uncle or anyone. It signifies that they didn't want to really see me, they just wanted the phone.

  - They wanted the phone, but not the phone charger.  While they could easily frame me somewhere  but I believe that they probably want to return it to the owner as a ' Lost and found' article. so if u find something on the road, you find only the phone, not the charger.

  -  I wasn't officially given a stamped deposit challan as they want to do it unofficially.

 - I was told not to contact the phone seller so that they could contact him later and probably some money...

 - I was told to forget my own money  when I asked them to arrange me a refund for my phone from the seller.

- I wasn't given any travelling expenses though they had told that they would give.

- When I told them that i can deposit the phone at my local police station, they refused.

- The theft or' lost' was in a shopping mall and not in any house near to mine.

        The whole stories they gave right from beginning was a game of Lies. Had it been a serious theft case as they said over phone, they would have directly come to my place to arrest me instead of giving me 48 hours to come and when my coming wasn't even important, only phone was needed. The theft case  was just a mobile theft or may be 'lost' case , hence Fir wasn't shown to me. i wasn't allowed to meet the complainant so that he doens' turn out to be my acquaintance as I had lived near to complainant's house for many years. They didn't also want to say that I get the recievng reciept from the complainant. I was told not to contact the seller as they don't want me to ask him for a refund.

   All in all, now I haven't recieved my money and am not even sure where my phone has gone now. I dont have any formal reciept of handing over the phone to them , nor can I lodge an Fir now as they have an informally signed deposit application with them.

  I want to have both and I need to be sure that  this case doesn't give me a problem in future.  what is the best course of action?

My alternatives:

- Hire a lawyer to handle it all. But how do I prove that I have deposted the phone with them?

- Contact a minister and reach the commisioner and then call these cops there.

- Forget the entire episode as a sad part, ' it happened, it happened thing'. where where the phone goes is troubling me as in if something serius happens with that phone involved, I think i will be in atrouble again.

   Kindly suggest the best thing to do in this case.

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 



Learning

 5 Replies

R Trivedi (advocate.dma@gmail.com)     22 June 2012

1. Just send a letter by POST (Registered) to commissioner of Police immediately giving full details. If you remember the name of any of the crime branch official mention that also. Attach whatever receipt you have from Police.  Keep a copy of this letter.

 

2. No police Station will accept the FIR against crime branch official at this stage, filing court case as of now is also not advisable. Keep all the correspondence of purchase with you, do not give the original to anyone.

 

3. File a police complaint with your area police station against ebay.com for providing platform to thieves.

Police will accept the FIR, once you give in writing all the details including call from crime branch and subsequent deposit of phone with them. If police refuses send the complaint in writing  to SP of your area by registered post, that is as good as FIR. Send a copy to cyber crime branch as well.

Incidentally, find out how crime branch got you number or how they got to know that you are the purchaser. Crime branch guys do not bother about sundry cell phones.

 

 

Do not spare the person who sold, do not spare the ebay, if crime branch has done something nasty without jurisdiction (without FIR), they wil also pay for it. You do not have to use any politicians name. Fight on your own.

Prashant (none)     22 June 2012

Dear Trivedi Ji,  Thank you for your kind suggestions. My problems are more;

-  The police traced my number by using the Phone's IMEI no. They got my sim details from mei no. and then contacted one of my friends who I had been frequently calling in Delhi..The cops didn't call me direct on my number or came here straight for an Inquiry to my sim registered residential address. 

  - What kind of problems can it lead to If I take an action against ebay and seller when the cops have clearly advised me to forget my money and not contact ebay guy unless they tell me so?

- How would I prove that the phone in question is the same as the one delivered to me by courier? It didn't have a bill , so there was no Imei number details.  The only proof that I have in email is that we negotiated for a dell streak that he had listed for sale on Ebay, then he sent me his bank details to put the money. I did so using my account, direct money transfer. and then on email, he sent me the consignment number with bluedart. But how would anyone know if it was the same phone delivered to me? Though the phone is rare and very few people use it, its a Dell streak, a little expensive).

 - how would I prove that I actually deposited the phone with them? I definitely have the history of call recieved on my sim from cop's mobile numbers , but that's it. I have no proof to my visit to their office, as the auto guy dropped me toa different police station near to it, There I made an entry in the register  but then I was sent to different office which was some distance away but  there was no register and all to sign my entry there.

 

  The most Important, wouldn't the cops there be pissed with me If I take an action now? can they frame me somewhere? Can they also arrest me for having been a user of a stolen phone or even having in it my possesion? All this scares me as I always used only the political contacts in the time of need, like issues with my institutes or neighbors. this is the first time I got into a soup with Police in it and coincidentally , I decided to test my own powers and fight it out on my own, this time.

   The commioner is least likely to listen to my registered letter as you suggested unless there's a political pressure. It also scares me to file an FIR as my SHO will contact the crime branch there and those cops will come to know. They are from Crime branch, with no uniform as such  , and it's a bit scary to deal with them again. 

   whatever you advise me now, can you tell me if they can arrest me if they are troubled? This will last only a  day but my entire career profile and ambitions will take a toll if I am locked up even for a day

and the interesting thing, they didn't take the charger even when i was giving it to them, why?

 Will appreciate your reply..

 

R Trivedi (advocate.dma@gmail.com)     22 June 2012

There is more to this story, then what you are saying....

 

Quote..

The cops didn't call me direct on my number.... 

I definitely have the history of call recieved on my sim from cop's mobile numbers... 

unquote..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prashant (none)     22 June 2012

Trivedi Ji,

            The confusion about calls is my incorrect writing. They contacted my friend's Dad first and then asked  his son to send me an SMS with cop's number and ask me to call up on it.   Later at the police station I saw that they had the record of all calls made and recieved from my sim and that included my own address and my sim no. They could have directly contacted me, instead of going to my friend first.

          Then obvously after I called this number, the exchange of calls started. While I called thrice, he called me back only once, to check if I was on the way.

         Your last answer scared me a bit that there's more to this story. can we talk over phone if there be a need?

  

**Victim** (job)     23 June 2012

When u buy something on eBay u r covered with buyer protection eBay is capable to get hold of seller easily

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