Srinagar, Feb 1 : A charge sheet has been filed against two accused in the fake international prize scam case, the J&K Crime Branch said on Sunday.

"The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) Kashmir of Crime Branch J&K has produced a charge sheet in Case FIR No. 24/2017 under Section 420, RPC, read with Section 66(d) of the IT Act, against two accused persons before the Honâ??ble Court of City Munsif, Srinagar, after establishing their involvement in a prize money fraud case," the Crime Branch, Kashmir, said in a statement.

It said that the investigation was initiated following the receipt of a complaint by the agency, wherein the complainant stated that he was lured by a fraudulent phone call claiming that he had won a prize of Rs 2.35 crore along with a car from M/s Chevrolet Motors Promotion Limited, UK.

"In order to claim the said prize, the caller directed the complainant to communicate through an email ID, cheprom@liv.co.uk. During subsequent email correspondence, the complainant was asked to deposit an amount as customs duty into a bank account maintained in the name of Jitu Raj Johari at SBI Branch, Sarai Khawja," it said.

"After depositing the said amount, the complainant received another email instructing him to open an account in the Royal Bank of Scotland and to deposit an additional amount as Charges of Transfer (COT) through an NSG agency. The complainant arranged the required amount from various sources and deposited the same as instructed. However, no prize money was ever transferred to his account. The caller, identifying himself as 'Frank Ban' and using the email ID frankban@diplomats.com, continued to mislead the complainant," the statement added.

The Crime Branch said that the probe conclusively revealed that Johari, son of Anand Kumar Johari, resident of H. No. A-71, Second Floor, Front Side, Ashoka Enclave, Sector-37, Amarnagar, Faridabad (Haryana), and Suresh Thakur, son of Ramesh Thakur, resident of H. No. 63, Akhara Ghat Giromail, Muzaffarabad, and presently residing at H. No. 58, N-Block, JJ Colony, Shakurpur, Delhi, were actively involved in the commission of the offence and had fraudulently and dishonestly duped the complainant of lakhs of rupees.

"Based on oral, documentary, and corroborative evidence collected during the course of investigation, offences under the relevant provisions of law were established against the accused persons. Accordingly, the case has been proved, and the chargesheet has been presented before the competent court for judicial adjudication," the statement added.

/IANS