Kolkata: The Cyber Crime Cell of the Kolkata Police detective dept has launched a comprehensive investigation into a series of online frauds in the city, where fraudsters duped victims of lakhs of rupees under the guise of allocating solar power dealerships and installation rights for a major power corporation.According to copss, investigators registered two distinct cases involving identical fraudulent schemes that took place between July 18-July 26. In both instances, victims were targeted using a carefully coordinated digital trap designed to mimic the official channels of a prominent national power company.The fraudsters impersonated official representatives of the enterprise to gain the complainants’ confidence. To make their claims appear genuine, the criminal network utilized forged documents, fraudulent corporate email IDs, and unauthorized reproductions of the power major’s brand name and official logo.Tricked by the convincing representations, the complainants were dishonestly induced to transfer funds totaling Rs 5.84 lakh each in separate transactions. The money was collected under the pretext of processing fees, security deposits, and agreement charges for granting exclusive solar franchises. However, after securing the payments, the accused neither provided the promised dealerships and installation contracts nor refunded the money. Instead, they continued to demand further payments under various fake administrative pretexts, causing massive financial losses to the victims and unlawful gains for themselves.Following formal complaints, cops lodged two separate FIRs under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. The charges include Sections 318(4) for cheating, 319(2) for cheating by personation, 336(3) for forgery, and 340(2) for using forged documents as genuine.The police also invoked Sections 66C (identity theft) and 66D (cheating by personation using a computer resource) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, given the digital nature of the offenses.Officers from the detective dept’s cyber cell are currently analyzing the bank account details used for the fraudulent transactions, tracing the digital footprints of the fake email domains, and tracking phone records associated with the suspects. Kolkata Police has issued an advisory urging citizens to thoroughly verify commercial franchise offers directly through verified corporate portals before making any financial commitments.