Name of Complainant	S Deb
Date of Complaint	May 4, 2022
Name(s) of companies complained against	Indian Army Courier Parcel Department
Category of complaint	Internet Services
Permanent link of complaint	Right click to copy link
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I saw an advertisement in Facebook where a person named Mahananda Pathak posted some pictures of his household items for sale. It was written that he was a CISF Officer of the Indian Army in Dimapur airport, he will be transferred to another place within few days and therefore he wanted to sell all his household items at a very cheap price.

I was interested to buy those items as it fascinated me because the prices of those items were very cheap compared to market price. He also told that those items were just 6months old. I texted that person in his Whatsapp number that was given in Facebook. As soon as he saw my text, he called me over the phone and talked to me and said that he will be transferred to another place and therefore he wanted to sell all his items.
I have selected some of the items that I wanted to buy and the total amount of those was Rs50,000. That person Mohananda Pathak again gave me discount of Rs10,000 and told me to pay a sum amount of Rs40,000 only. And then I sent him my address as he said. He told me to send 10% of the total amount (10% of Rs40,000) in advance for courier purpose. And I can pay the rest of the amount after delivery. He told that all those items will be delivered into my door by four of their Indian Army Officer. He also told that if I didn’t like any items I can return that and I will get its refund.

So I have sent him Rs4000(10%) as advance. And he told me that the courier receipt will be generated the next day morning at 10:00am. The next day morning he sent me the picture of the courier receipt and the number of the delivery boy. The entire amount on the receipt/billing was divided into 3 parts.
1) Paid Amount : 4000
2) GST + PL : 9000+500
3) Remaining Amount : 26,400
___________Total : Rs40,000_______

And after an hour the delivery boy called me and told me to pay the amount of GST+PL. He told me that their loaded truck can only pass through the gate if they show the receipt of this amount. He told me to pay the amount of 9000+500 immediately so that the loaded truck can pass through the gate. So we send him the amount of GST+PL i.e. Rs9500 in his account.

Few minutes later he called me back and told me that the way I sent was incorrect. He told me to send the amount separately 9000 & 500 in two transactions and not together. I was questioning him why does that even matter. He told me that as per the bill he have to show the receipt of two separate transactions (9000 & 500). So after thinking a while, I sent him 9000 & 500 separately in two transactions.

Adding all the transactions, I have sent him Rs23,000. And Rs17,000 remained that I would pay him after delivery.

After half an hour he called me again and told me to send the remaining amount Rs17,000. He told me that if he shows the receipt of the entire amount to the Security Gate, only then the loading truck will be allowed to pass through the gate. I was furious when he said this as sending the entire amount was not a part of the deal. He told me to trust him completely as they are Indian Army Officers. He told me these are necessary procedures and formalities of Indian Army Courier Service. He told me his name was Sandeep Rawat and he even sent me a ID Card of that name and he claimed that to be his ID Card.

It looked very suspicious to me and then I called that person Mahananda Pathak and told him about this that the deal was I would pay the remaining amount (Rs36,000) via Cash On Delivery, only after receiving the items. I asked him why I needed to send the entire amount now. He told me the same thing and started to argue that it was necessary formality that needs to be done and only then their truck can be passed through the gate for delivery purpose. He kept on telling this.

I was very much worried what to do since this whole thing started to look suspicious to me. After thinking long about it, at last I decided to send him the remaining amount i.e. Rs17,000. I sent him the money and informed him. With that I have sent him the Full amount Rs40,000 to him. As I was waiting for my items to be delivered, he called me again and told me that in the bill, there was an amount of Rs26,000 which I need to send them so that as per the bill they can show the receipt of that 26,000 to the Security Personnel. Orelse the loading truck won’t be permitted to cross the gate. He told me this is an extra amount that I need to pay now and this amount 26,000 will be returned to me immediately in cash after the delivery of those items.

It was then when I realised I was robbed. The money that I earned with sweat and hardwork is gone. I was robbed.

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