Ahmedabad pharma trader offered 'Blinkit' franchise, duped of ₹25 lakh

A 31-year-old pharmaceutical trader from Maninagar in Ahmedabad has alleged that he was cheated of over ₹25 lakh by fraudsters who lured him with the promise of a franchise of Blinkit.

According to a complaint filed with the Cyber Cell of Crime Branch, Keval Patel, who runs a wholesale medicines business under the name Real Pharmaceuticals, was targeted through an online search for franchise opportunities in August.

Patel stated that after submitting his details on a website, he received an email on August 11 from an ID purportedly representing Blinkit franchise services. The sender, identifying himself as Rahul Dhankher, also contacted him via WhatsApp and asked him to submit personal and business documents, including Aadhaar, PAN, bank details and photographs of the proposed business location.

“The accused gained the complainant’s trust by sharing forms, verification emails and invoices resembling those of a legitimate company,” a cybercrime official said.

Subsequently, Patel was informed that his application had been approved for a “mega dark store franchise” and was asked to pay a registration fee of ₹49,560, which was claimed to be refundable. Initially hesitant, Patel said he attempted to verify the offer through the Blinkit mobile application and was allegedly misled into believing the communication was genuine.

Over the following weeks, the accused demanded multiple payments under various heads, including NOC clearance, franchise licence fee, security deposit, agreement charges and inventory costs. The payments were made on different dates between August 23 and September 5, primarily through bank transfers to accounts provided by the accused.

Police said the money was transferred to accounts in different banks, including Saraswat Co-operative Bank and others, under names such as 'Blinkit Commerce' and individual account holders, further reinforcing the illusion of legitimacy.

In total, Patel transferred ₹25.83 lakh to the accused. “The fraudsters assured him that the entire amount was refundable and that site verification would be conducted before commencing operations,” an official said.

However, when no verification took place, and the accused became unresponsive, Patel realised he had been duped. He then contacted the National Cybercrime Helpline (1930) and later approached the Cyber Crime Branch to lodge a formal complaint.

A case has been registered against unknown persons, including the user of the WhatsApp number and operators of the email ID used in the fraud, as well as the bank account holders involved.

Officials said digital evidence, including email records, WhatsApp chats and transaction details submitted by the complainant, are being analysed to trace the accused.