Panchkula, Sept. 1 -- A retired excise and taxation department officer from Panchkula's Sector 4 was defrauded of Rs.54.5 lakh by cyber fraudsters who lured him with promises of huge profits from stock market investments. The scam began when the victim received a message, followed by a woman identifying herself as Anjali Mehta on WhatsApp. She convinced him to download a fake investment app and join a group where a man named Ravi Sharma directed him to transfer funds to various accounts. Initially, the scammers showed a small profit and allowed a withdrawal to gain his trust. The victim was then persuaded to invest nearly Rs.50 lakh. The app displayed a balance of about Rs.4 crore and falsely claimed he had been allotted shares worth Rs.5 crore. The fraudsters then demanded an additional Rs.49 lakh. Realising he had been scammed, he filed a complaint with the cyber police. A probe is underway to trace the culprits and recover the stolen funds. A mechanic from Manimajra has become the latest victim of cyber fraud after being duped of Rs.17,300 while attempting to buy a car spare part through a WhatsApp group. The complainant, Anil Kumar, reported that on August 16, he had posted a message in the WhatsApp group "Saini Vihar Meter Works All Digital Meter Available", about the availability of an old meter for a Ford EcoSport car. He received a message where the sender quoted a price of Rs.17,300 for the part. Kumar transferred the money. However, the accused did not deliver the part and later stopped answering calls. A case was registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station, Sector 17....