LUCKNOW, Oct. 19 -- A city resident, Pragya Kumar Singh, 40, of Gomti Nagar Extension, was allegedly duped of over Rs 2.94 crore by fraudsters operating a fake international trading and investment scheme. The scammers lured him through Facebook and WhatsApp between August 14 and October 4, 2025, police confirmed on Saturday. According to the FIR filed at Gomti Nagar Extension police station, Singh was contacted by a woman named Farha Arora via Facebook. She allegedly persuaded him to invest in share trading through a WhatsApp message claiming to represent an American investment platform offering high returns. Singh reportedly transferred Rs 2,94,58,840 through several IMPS and RTGS transactions between August 14 and October 4, 2025. The payments were made to multiple bank accounts, ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 20 lakh per transaction. After receiving the funds, the accused allegedly stopped responding and pressured Singh to deposit more money. When he demanded a refund, the scammers blocked his contact. Singh filed a complaint on the Cyber Crime Portal on October 12 before approaching the Lucknow Police. The FIR, registered under BNS sections 318(4), 319(2), and Section 66D of the IT (Amendment) Act, 2008, has prompted a Cyber Cell investigation. Police officials are coordinating with banks and digital payment platforms to track the money trail and freeze the accounts involved. SHO Sudhir Awasthi confirmed that legal action under cyber and financial fraud laws is ongoing. A woman from Lucknow's Dubagga area reported that Rs.7 lakh disappeared from her bank account in a cyber fraud case but was later refunded after she filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime Cell. However, her account remains frozen, preventing her from accessing the money. Sunita Vishwakarma, who holds an account at a private bank's Aliganj branch, discovered the loss on August 16 when she tried to withdraw cash with her husband. She found her account balance had dropped to zero due to two unauthorised IMPS transactions of Rs.4 lakh and Rs.3 lakh. She said the bank manager did not act quickly and asked her to report the matter to the Cyber Crime Cell. Vishwakarma claimed the bank staff were unhelpful and only accepted her written complaint after repeated requests. Vishwakarma also said she did not use mobile or net banking, nor did she receive any SMS alerts about the transactions, raising suspicion of possible internal involvement in the fraud. After her complaint, the bank credited Rs.7 lakh back to her account on September 30 but placed a hold on the funds, blocking withdrawals. DCP East Zone, Shashank Singh, confirmed an FIR has been registered. The cyber crime unit is investigating whether the fraud was caused by an external cyberattack or internal collusion. Lucknow Bringing festive cheer this Dhanteras, the Western Zone police of Lucknow Commissionerate traced and returned 170 lost mobile phones worth about Rs.35.5 lakh to their rightful owners. The recovery drive was carried out under the supervision of deputy commissioner of police (West) Vishwajeet Srivastava and additional DCP (West) Dhananjay Kushwaha, on the directions of police commissioner Amarendra Sengar. "The operation was executed by the Surveillance Cell (Western Zone) and Chowk Police Station team, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police (Chowk) Rajkumar Singh," read a press note. Officials said the recovered mobile phones were reported missing through the CEIR portal and the commissioner's public grievance cell. Many of the devices were traced from Lucknow as well as nearby districts and states. DCP (West) Vishwajeet Srivastava personally handed over the recovered phones to their owners, calling it a "Dhanteras gift" from Lucknow Police. He also urged citizens to continue using the CEIR portal to report missing mobile phones for prompt recovery. A youth accused of sexually assaulting a minor girl and stalking her was nabbed by the police within 24 hours of being booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. The action was taken under the Mission Shakti 5.0 campaign, said officials. According to the police, the accused Hari Govind Mishra alias Utkarsh Mishra, 23, a resident of Vrindavan Vihar Colony, Abrar Nagar, Gudamba, Lucknow, had allegedly been stalking and sexually assaulting the minor daughter of the complainant for the past two years. He also reportedly threatened to make her photos viral on social media with the intent of violating her privacy," said AK Singh, SHO, Vikas Nagar. Following a complaint lodged on October 17, an FIR was registered under Sections 78/351(3) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 7/8 of the Pocso Act, 2012, at Vikas Nagar police station. Acting promptly, the police arrested the accused from the road leading from Khurram Nagar intersection to Tedhi Pulia. "The accused was produced before the court, which, after reviewing the evidence, remanded him to judicial custody and ordered his detention in the District Jail, Lucknow," the SHO added....