Lucknow, March 11 (IANS): A devotee of Lord Jagannath here was duped of Rs 2.24 lakh in the name of booking a room for pilgrims in Odisha and facilitating 'darshan', said officials.

According to police reports, the victim, Ram Chandra Pandey, had planned a tour to Jagannath temple in Odisha for his family and was searching for staying options online.

While searching, he got a link and a mobile number of a man who introduced himself as Pankaj.

“Pankaj asked for a deposit fee for the room and darshan. I paid Rs 2.24 lakh online. Later, I found that Pankaj was a fraud and there was no such facility available,” he said.

Pandey informed the cyber cell about the fraud and later informed the police on Saturday.

In another case, Mansi Srivastava of the Gudamba area reported a case of fraud.

She said while on her way home from the office, she received a call wherein the caller identified himself as her father’s friend. He claimed to have borrowed Rs 3,000 from her father in the past and intended to return it for which he sought an account number.

“Trusting the caller's assertion, she gave her account number. However, she got a message that instead of Rs 3,000, a staggering sum of Rs 30,000 was credited to her account. However, the message turned out to be fake and the fraudster proceeded to conduct 11 illegal transactions from her bank account withdrawing Rs 55,000,” said police.

Both the cases are being investigated by the cyber cell.