Retired engineer loses ₹1.71 crore in alleged ‘Axis Direct Investor’ stock trading scam
HYDERABAD: A retired engineer from Sangareddy district has alleged that he was cheated of ₹1,71,74,000 in an online stock trading fraud run through a WhatsApp group posing as an investment advisory platform.
Police said the complaint was received on March 12, 2026 from Mantravadi Ramakrishna, 62, a resident of Ramachandrapuram. Ramakrishna stated that he joined a WhatsApp group named “Axis Stock Advisory-H90” on January 9, 2026 after seeing a message inviting people to learn stock trading.
According to the complaint, the group was presented as an “Axis Direct Investor” advisory platform run by a person identifying himself as Prof. Naveen Kulkarni. Another person introduced herself as Suraksha, claiming to be Kulkarni’s assistant.
WhatsApp group promised trading guidance and high returns
Ramakrishna alleged that the group claimed to provide guidance on stock market investments using an institutional trading account. Members were reportedly encouraged to invest in block trades, qualified institutional placement (QIP) stocks and IPO allotments.
He was asked to register through a Google Form and later directed to use a trading portal link to create an account. The account was created with his mobile number as the user ID.
Initially reluctant, Ramakrishna said he began trading on January 14, 2026 after the group showed examples of profitable transactions. He transferred ₹5,00,000 from his State Bank of India account to a bank account named “The Future Up Foundation”, which was allegedly described as a Securities and Exchange Board of India-approved institutional collection account.
Victim claims ₹1.71 crore transferred through 25 transactions
Over the next two months, Ramakrishna said he carried out around 25 transactions between January 14 and March 9, transferring a total of ₹1,71,74,000 to bank accounts and UPI IDs shared by the group’s finance team.
He alleged that the group showed large profits on the trading portal and allowed a small test withdrawal of ₹1,000 after the first transaction to gain his confidence.
Ramakrishna claimed the platform later displayed an account value of about ₹32.53 crore, supposedly generated through investments in IPOs such as FRACTAL.AI and OMNITECH.
Withdrawal blocked, commission demanded
When he attempted to withdraw funds, the complainant said the platform demanded a commission payment of ₹65,00,000. He was allegedly told that 25% of the commission had to be paid upfront before withdrawal could be processed.
However, after the demand, the withdrawal options on the platform became inactive and most members of the WhatsApp group stopped responding.
One person identifying himself as “Assistant Axis Securities” reportedly told him to speak to higher authorities only after paying the commission amount.
Ramakrishna later consulted a colleague who advised him to approach the police. He subsequently realised that the website and trading platform were allegedly fraudulent.
Police said the complainant requested legal action against the operators of the domains used in the alleged scam and the individuals identified as Prof. Naveen Kulkarni and Suraksha.
A case has been registered and investigation is under way.
